We Are Branches

Living things--and not just trees--often grow in branching forms, as detailed in this intricate picture book. Via instantly recognizable scratchboard spreads, Krommes draws branching life with exquisite delicacy, ranging across landscapes and locales. "Look/ how we grow: / lifting toward the sun," Sidman writes in expansive lines as illustrations look upward into the branches of a forest. Tree roots take this form, too ("We sink... to drink/ and grasp and steady")--as do rivers, lightning bolts, ice crystals, coral, animalian limbs, and more (about the wing bones of short-nosed fruit bats, "arms that stretch wide/ into fabulous fingers"). In graceful, generous profusion, various labeled organic forms are shown dividing and redividing into smaller sections while children of varying skin tones play in the background. Further information about patterns in nature concludes this striking study of growing forms' startling similarity: "Branching is the shape of life!" Ages 4-8. (May)

★ "Poetic text and luminous scratchboard illustrations with refined watercolors explain the purpose of different branches from the branches' points of view. This STEM concept book turns to STEAM through exquisite detail and design." — Booklist (starred review)

"The creators of Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature (2011) salute another of the world's essential and ubiquitous patterns. Explores a fundamental concept with characteristic grace and simplicity." — Kirkus Reviews

"Via instantly recognizable scratchboard spreads, Krommes draws branching life with exquisite delicacy. Further information about patterns in nature concludes this striking study of growing forms' startling similarity." — Publishers Weekly

"With spare but imagistic text, Sidman highlights the interconnectedness of life, clearly conveying how branching is an essential part of nature. Krommes' defined, crisp scratchboard art is especially effective."
— Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Praise for Swirl by Swirl: ★ "Elegantly constructed, and as poetry, picture book, or nonfiction, a success in every way." — Horn Book (starred review)

★ "Exquisitely simple and memorable." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

★ "Striking . . . Will make the everyday fascinating." — ALA Booklist (starred review)

★ "One of those rare children's books that make you look at the physical world differently." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

★ "Gorgeous." — School Library Journal (starred review)