Trees can't tell jokes, but they can certainly tell stories. . . .
Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the neighborhood "wishtree"―people write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to Red's branches. Along with a crow named Bongo and other animals who seek refuge in Red's hollows, this wishtree watches over the neighborhood.
You might say Red has seen it all.
Until a new family moves in. Not everyone is welcoming, and Red's experience as a wishtree is more important than ever.

Ivan is a gorilla who lives in a mall with his friends, Stella (an elephant) and Bob (a stray dog). Ivan and Stella are attractions at the failing mall. He spends his day making art (which is later sold), watching TV, and watching the people who watch him. When Ruby, a baby elephant, arrives at the mall, Ivan feels a new urgency and suddenly has a mission. My daughter and I just loved Ivan’s voice and observations about humans.

In the village of Perchance, screechers have long been reviled, while the adorable hummingbears are the lifeblood of the economy, drawing tourists for the hummingbear festival each year. Eleven-year-old Willodeen loves all animals, but especially the stinky screechers that everyone else hates. When they are hunted almost to extinction, she is the only one who is worried. More widely concerning is that the hummingbears have also not made their annual migration to Perchance. Willodeen is determined to stand up for the screechers before it's too late--and she might even discover the answer to the disappearing hummingbears along the way.

We adore Katherine Applegate around here (The One and Only Ivan, The One and Only Bob, and Wishtree are some of our favorites), and she has again hit it out of the park with a lovely story on the delicate balance of nature and the dangers of human disruption. This is a beautiful blend of magic and science--after finishing this book, my science-loving second-grader started a nature observation notebook, just like Willodeen's.