Maya Christina Gonzales (My Colors, My World/Mis colores, mi mundo) smoothly integrates the metaphor of a tree and a child in this bilingual text and radiant artwork, as they grow into tall, strong stewards of life on earth.
"I begin/ Within/ The deep/ dark/ earth" accompanies an image of a child in a golden womb underground, with what appear to be seeds in tiny orbits around him. "Nazco/ Dentro/ De la tierra/ profunda/ y oscura" reads the Spanish translation. The child's hand serves as the tree's trunk ("A seed/ A tree/ Free to be free"), still engulfed in a golden membrane. The round shapes and undulating lines establish the child's and tree's symbiotic growth and emergence at the surface. Soon other tree-children join the narrator, reflecting a diverse range of cultures and tree species (some strike the yoga tree pose). "All trees have roots/ All trees belong," concludes this homage to the interconnectedness of humanity and nature. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness