Sloth Finds His Perfect Tree
Sloth Finds His Perfect Tree is a festive picture book about the true meaning of home.
In Christie Nicholls’s whimsical picture book Sloth Finds His Perfect Tree, an intrepid sloth seeks a new home at a Christmas tree farm.
Eager to find the perfect tree to call home, Sloth is delighted to discover an unusual “forest”—a Christmas tree farm, where he is sure his perfect tree awaits. But as the days count down toward Christmas, the trees disappear. Sloth worries that he may never find his place.
Sleepy Sloth is the paradigm of patience. It takes him days to crawl from one tree to another. Still, he perseveres, even as tree after tree is purchased.
Sloth’s mishaps along the way lend levity to his quest. In one scene, he learns that Christmas trees do not taste as delicious as they smell. In another, Sloth finds his bottom covered in sap and nettles, which he uses to make a wreath. Gentle themes of acceptance are incorporated as a rejected tree turns out to be shaped just right for Sloth, who approaches new situations with curiosity rather than judgment. However, the lack of any backstory about Sloth, or about why he left Treeland to seek a new home, dampens the urgency of his mission.
In the charming illustrations, fuzzy Sloth is clad in a smart green bow tie and blue striped pajamas; both match the cool tones of the watercolor-rendered Christmas trees. Bright flashes of red are used to highlight important items and characters, as when a boy in a red coat sneers at the misshapen tree. A calendar is featured every few pages to track the passing December days, helping to move the plot along. The personifications of the trees according to their species are also edifying: Fraser has a firm handshake, and Douglas proves chilly.
The prose is lilting but often simple, and commas are overused within it. Further, choppy clauses interrupt the book’s flow, as do the use of different fonts and odd text placements. Keen metaphors are used to reveal how Sloth sees the world, though, and these stand out. For example, Sloth marvels that the trees stand “like an army of friendly triangles.” Bits of conversations also appear throughout to heighten the tale, which moves toward a heartwarming ending in which two children find Sloth and help him realize the fullest meaning of home.
In the festive picture book Sloth Finds His Perfect Tree, a sloth is determined to find a new home as the days count down toward Christmas.
Reviewed by
Vivian Turnbull
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
