About the book
This tree doesn’t look like it’s doing very much: it just stands there in the sunlight, big and GREEN. But this tree is busy... Starting with the secret workings of a tree, this book transports readers billions of years into the past; back to the moment when plant life first appeared on our planet. Covering its evolution, the steady emergence of fossil fuels and the extraordinary communities of plants around the world today, Nicola Davies and Emily Sutton combine essential biology with a powerful message, calling on readers to celebrate and cherish the most precious colour on Earth: GREEN.
ISBN: 9781529523591
What did the judges think?
Chair of judges Professor Tamsin Mather FRS said: “This book is a great showcase of the visual language of science. The illustrations are beautiful, and the drawing of a cross-section of the leaf especially won me over. The 4.5-billion-year story of our now green planet, told by the pictures and relatively simple text, is a rich opportunity to share the science of plants and a deeper understanding of ecology with younger children.”
About the author and illustrator
Nicola Davies is a multi-award-winning author and Children's Laureate Wales 2025-27. Her many books for children include A First Book of Nature, Lots, The Promise and One World. She graduated in zoology, studied whales and bats and then worked for the BBC Natural History Unit, eventually becoming one of the original presenters of The Really Wild Show. She was the first ever recipient of the SLA’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Information Books.
Emily Sutton is an artist and illustrator based in York, England. She has worked on numerous picture books, including The Christmas Eve Tree by Delia Huddy, as well as Tiny, Lots, Many and Grow by author Nicola Davies, and The Tale of the Castle Mice by Michael Bond. Emily finds endless inspiration for her paintings from spending time in nature accompanied by her dog muse Mouse and her nieces Penny and Sadie.
Nicola Davies
