Adoette is a huge tree that was planted when a new street was being built over 100 years ago. When the first families moved into the street Adoette was just a small tree and the young children played all around her. There were no cars and no electricity and everyone in the road knew everyone else.
Over the years things changed. Adoette was there when good things happened and when bad things happened. She was there as everywhere got busier with more cars and more people rushing about. And all the time Adeotte was growing…Now she was no longer small. Instead, she was a huge tree, towering over the road and taking space from the pavement. Some people began to hate her as much as others loved her. They insisted that the tree should go!
Once the splendid tree had been cut down the street looked very bare and felt very sad. Adoette had been a living centre piece for a community. How could she be replaced?
Lydia Monks’s beautiful illustrations celebrate the importance of caring for nature and for each other by making time to look out for one another. A powerful message inspired by Lydia Monks own experience.
Adoette lived to be 100 years old. Just imagine all the things she saw! She lived on the same street all her life, but one day, people decided it would be best if she would go...
Award-winning and best-selling author-illustrator Lydia Monks, illustrator of franchise What the Ladybird Heard, beautifully tells the tale of the life of one tree, from a young sapling to a mighty oak, becoming the beating heart of the community she lived in, right up until the day they cut her down. But there's hope, when one little girl takes one of her acorns to plant in the community garden.
Lydia Monks is one of the most original picture book artists working today. Lydia illustrates several bestselling series including the What the Ladybird Heard adventures and Princess Mirror-Belle, written by Julia Donaldson. Her distinctive use of colour and collage has won her critical acclaim and several awards, including the Royal Mail Scottish Children’s Book Award, the Stockport Children’s Book Award and multiple nominations for the Kate Greenaway Medal. She is also the author and illustrator of the preschool picture book series Twit Twoo School. Lydia lives in Sheffield.
Photo credit - Rob King
Things you didn't know about Lydia Monks:
1. She has ginger hair. 2. She goes to tango classes. 3. She has a sister called Julie who also illustrates children’s books. 4. She doesn’t have any pets but would like some. 5. She always talks to cats in the street. 6. She listens to the radio all day while she works. 7. She has won medals and trophies for Irish dancing. 8. She used to have an old, green car that was born in the 1970s, which people used to laugh at. 9. She uses teeny, weeny brushes to work with. 10. She has a husband who is also an illustrator.
Click here to read a Q&A with the author from top children's publisher Egmont.
