Wishtree by Katherine Applegate
An old wise oak tree is known as the Wishtree to everyone in the neighborhood but friends know it as Red. In all the years Red has been around (and that’s quite a long time), it’s seen quite a few things. Red gets excited about a new little girl and her family moving in. When the new neighbors don’t want them there, the oak tree decides it’s finally time to stop sitting by and help grant the little girl’s wish to have a friend.
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LJR’s Thoughts
Wishtree is a worthwhile read with your middle-grade kiddos and a quick read (taking me less than 1.5 hours). It’s a sweet book with a lovable main character in Red, the oak tree. Even though the book has many humorous parts and sweet animal characters, it does have some heavy themes like discrimination and death. We don’t really see name-calling or even physical violence toward the family. Katherine Applegate keeps the heavy themes light enough for children to see what’s going on without frightening them. Some sensitive kiddos may have a hard time so you might want to read ahead.
Definitely pay attention to the considerations below. I’ve read many people’s comments who are upset at the author’s viewpoints and at least one part that seems agenda-driven but the book stands on its own merits. I wouldn’t make a decision about this book based on what others think about the author’s personal views alone.
The unbiblical topics are light enough for you to engage in profound teaching moments with your kids and other topics fall right in line with scripture providing a great segway into discussing Jesus.
Overall Rating: 4.25 out of 5
Morals/Values: 3.5 out of 5
Story: 4.5 out of 5
Read-Aloud Value: 4.5 out of 5
Discussion Value: 4.5 out of 5
Considerations for Wishtree
In our usual LJR fashion, we try to find anything that Christian families may want to know about ahead of time to address, skip, or dig deeper into. Take a look at what we found below. Our take on Discipleship Opportunities is at the bottom of the review.
- Positive Role Models/Relationships: Wishtree oozes with a sweet friendship between animals and children – and the old, wise oak tree. Though discrimination is a major theme, by the end of the book, you can see it’s not everyone feels that way.
- Gender/Sexuality: Red says that some trees are male and some are female but Red is both. Some people look at this as agenda-driven; however, scientifically, red oaks have both male and female flowers on the same tree, which is explained in the book.
- Racism/Discrimination: Samar’s family is Muslim and neighbors aren’t happy about it. Her family receives mistreatment because of it but it’s pretty mild – no cursing or physical violence.
- Violent/Intense Scenes: The owner of the houses where Red is discusses finally cutting Red down. Red recalls a story of a young immigrant from years before whose family died. A brief scene of a baby being abandoned. Some animals in the neighborhood put themselves in harm’s way.
- Worldview: The story centers around Red and a little girl’s family, who are Muslim. The whole story is about a tree people make wishes on. Red also talks about how trees get their names and mentions a palm tree, named Karma, which doesn’t go by those standards because “you know how Californians can be.”
Discipleship Opportunities
- Some things in nature are often paralleled with how people try to view God’s design. For instance, the fact that Red is male and female. First, Red is fictitious. Second, it is scientifically accurate that an oak tree has male and female flowers on the same tree. Third, only humans are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).
- Scripture says to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). It is the second commandment Jesus gives behind the greatest commandment, which is to “love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 37-38). Despite Samar’s family being Muslim, nowhere in scripture does it say to mistreat them. We see this in Genesis 1:27 when men and women are created in God’s image. We see this in the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and we are to proclaim the good news of Jesus as Peter states in 1 Peter 2:9. If you want to read up on the differences between Islam and Christianity, I am about to read Nabeel Qureshi’s books, specifically No God But One: Allah or Jesus A Former Muslim Investigates the Evidence for Islam and Christianity.
- If you read Wishtree, you definitely want to address the idea of “wishing” since it’s a prominent theme. As Christians, we pray to the one true God, our “Father in Heaven who gives good gifts to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:11). Matthew 6: 25-34 is also a great passage to dive into with your kiddos so you can turn any wishing into diligent prayer. God is not a genie, after all, that we should command wishes.
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