All from a Walnut
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
All from a Walnut is a moving, multigenerational story about love, family roots, and the cycle of life.
When Emilia finds a walnut one morning, Grandpa tells her the story behind it: of his journey across the ocean to a new home, with only one small bag and a nut in his pocket.
“I planted my little tree in good brown soil, so it would grow strong here forever.”
“In this house? In this yard?”
“Shall we go see?”
Step by step, Grandpa teaches Emilia how to cultivate her own seed. But as her little nut grows, Grandpa begins to slow down—until one sad day, Emilia has to say goodbye. Emilia’s sapling looks as droopy as she feels . . . but she knows just what to do.
From acclaimed author and illustrator Ammi-Joan Paquette and Felicita Sala, this tender story is a poignant reminder that the best things grow with time—and that even when they are no longer here, the ones we love are always a part of us.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When a single walnut appears on Emilia's nightstand one morning, her grandfather tells her "the best of stories" about the walnut he plucked from the tree outside his home "near a lake called Como" and brought to the country where the family now lives. "This nut?" Emilia asks about the walnut she's holding. "Not this one," he explains, detailing how he carried his in a pocket, rooted it in a pot, then took it with him until he had a garden in which to plant it. His walnut eventually grew into the huge tree that now guards their backyard, towering over a smaller one—"your mother's." Emilia's walnut will become the original's next generation, and her grandfather shows her how to nurture it as he begins to slow down. Domestic and travelogue scenes in Sala's (Be a Tree!) jewelbox colors distinguish the light brown–skinned family's story in images of Grandpa's white moustache, his jaunty cap, and the green, growing things he loves. One day, when his chair is empty, watching her own walnut flourish gives Emilia a way to think about his death: "They would always be a part of each other." Paquette (Mucky Truck) captures the personal-feeling family story with a poignant immediacy that also enshrines respect for the family's legacy. Ages 4–8. Author's agent: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator's agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Productions.
