Premium Members Get 10% Off and Earn Rewards Find Out More

Evergreen

Add to Wishlist

Evergreen

Hardcover

$18.99

View All Available Formats & Editions

Hardcover
$18.99

View All Available Formats & Editions

SHIP THIS ITEM

Qualifies for Free Shipping
PICK UP IN STORE
Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Available within 2 business hours

Want it Today?
Check Store Availability

Related collections and offers

Want it Today?
Check Store Availability

Overview

A picture book by Caldecott medal winner Matt Cordell about a timid squirrel who makes a brave journey to help a relative who is ill.

Evergreen the squirrel is afraid of many things: thunder, hawks, and the dark paths of Buckthorn Forest. But when her mother tasks Evergreen with delivering soup to her sick Granny Oak, the little squirrel must face her fears and make the journey.

Along the way, Evergreen is met by other forest dwellers – some want to help her, but some want her mother’s delicious soup! It’s up to Evergreen to stay the course, and those who help her will surprise and delight young readers.

Using an art style reminiscent of the work of William Steig and Arnold Lobel, Matthew Cordell creates a classic tale of bravery and love.

Product Details
About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250317179
Publisher:	Feiwel & Friends
Publication date:	02/07/2023
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	19,746
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD580L (what's this?)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Matthew Cordell received the Caldecott Medal for Wolf in the Snow. He is also the creator of the picture books Trouble Gum, Another Brother, The Expedition, and Bear Island, which School Library Journal praised as, “A poetically beautiful story of grief and healing,” in a starred review. He lives in Gurnee, IL, with his family.

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

★ 12/12/2022
This action-packed forest marathon from Cordell (Cornbread and Poppy), which reads like a “Little Red Riding Hood” remix, stars oft-terrified squirrel Evergreen, sent by her mother through Buckthorn Forest to take Granny Oak a neat acorn’s worth of healing soup. A wide-eyed rodent in a worn red shawl (a nod, perhaps, to her folktale forebearer), Evergreen generally hides “behind the closed curtains of a bedroom window,” dreading so many things that “it would take far too long to list them all.” Though a forest-wide trip intimidates her, her mother reassures her that she can do it, and she sets out. Across the book’s six parts, Evergreen frees a rabbit named Briar, is carried off by a hawk called Ember, and hinders would-be soup thieves of all kinds—and that’s just for starters. Cordell’s dense, scribbly ink hatching and watercolor washes are fittingly deployed throughout, portraying animalian feathers and fur alongside soft, earthen growing things. Vignettes framed in twisted driftwood lend notes of old-fashioned charm that temper loud noises (“GRRROOOAAARRR!”) and unexpected encounters. The contrast between Evergreen’s own self-doubt and the way she shines under pressure is conveyed with humor and skill in this adventuresome allegory about confronting the world outside as well as one’s own very real fears. Ages 2–5. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2023
Winner, 2024 Robin Smith Picture Book Prize
A 2024 Bank Street Best Book of the Year
A 2023 Amazon Best Book of the Year So Far
A 2023 Good Housekeeping Kids' Book Award Winner
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2023
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2023
A School Library Journal Best Book of 2023
An ALA Notable Book for Children
A Common Sense Selection

"Drawn, shaded, and occasionally crosshatched ... and tinted with watercolors in yellow, tan, brown, rose, and pale blue hues, the beautifully composed illustrations give this picture book a handcrafted look that suits the timeless story." —Booklist, starred review

"The interior pages start out looking like a chapter book, but the text is broken with exciting spreads, graphic novel–style layouts, and playfully illustrated text. These design decisions make this book feel new and familiar—a classic readers will be talking about in the future." —School Library Journal, starred review

"The contrast between Evergreen’s own self-doubt and the way she shines under pressure is conveyed with humor and skill in this adventuresome allegory about confronting the world outside as well as one’s own very real fears." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A spellbinding tale that will never brown or fade with time." —Kirkus, starred review

"Destined to be a classic. The most beloved new picture book in our 2023 Good Housekeeping Best Book Awards...is about a squirrel delivering soup to her sick grandma. The brave yet scared squirrel traverses Buckthorn Forest, showing readers that helping others is worth conquering their fears.
—Good Housekeeping

"The varied page layouts convey both the coziness of Evergreen’s world and the tension of life as part of the woodland food chain." —The Horn Book

"Cordell’s world building is immensely satisfying, and Evergreen is packed with entertaining textual and visual details." —BookPage

"This endearing story reminds us that great things can be accomplished, even in the face of fear."--Common Sense Media

From the Publisher

★ 01/01/2023
K-Gr 2—There is something familiar about Cordell's book, and not just the style of art—sketchy line work, with warm earth tones washed over them—but the modern play with story and design broken up into digestible, short chapters, each reading like an Aesop-vignette where Evergreen, the squirrel we follow through Buckthorn Forrest, faces a scary obstacle she must overcome. With each chapter, Evergreen grows more confident, so that by the end, she is better able to predict and prepare for all possibilities. The interior pages start out looking like a chapter book, but the text is broken with exciting spreads, graphic novel—style layouts, and playfully illustrated text. These design decisions make this book feel new and familiar—a classic readers will be talking about in the future. VERDICT Cordell never disappoints and never fails to surprise readers with his evergreen ability to take a story and make it feel fresh and timeless in one go.—Jessica Schriver

School Library Journal

★ 2022-10-26
Soup is always the correct solution.
Evergreen, a young squirrel who lives high in a tree in Buckthorn Forest, is afraid of most things, but top of the list is thunderstorms. When her mother, who makes magical soup, asks her to take an acorn full of soup to Granny Oak, who is ill with the flu, Evergreen is afraid that she won’t be brave enough to do it. But she knows she must—and that she must be careful not to spill a drop, as “Granny Oak will need every bit of it to get better.” Setting off, the scared squirrel encounters a menagerie of adventures and forest creatures in her journey. It’s a wild, imaginative read and one that twists and turns like a forest path, with unexpected surprises along the way. Cordell is a masterful storyteller, and readers will love following Evergreen’s journey as she grows into a more confident squirrel. The artwork is the real star of the show, however; there’s a hint of Sendak in the characters’ humorous expressions and in the timeless pen-and-watercolor backgrounds that cry out to be examined in detail. Educators and caregivers will love reading this story aloud in installments, and readers will adore seeing what Evergreen encounters in her travels. A hint of future stories will tantalize readers, who will close the book eager for a new volume to devour.
A spellbinding tale that will never brown or fade with time. (Early chapter book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews

Evergreen

Evergreen

Hardcover

Hardcover

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Customer Reviews

Related Searches

Explore More Items

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Related Subjects

Customer Reviews