Lisa Ellen Silvestri

Grow Like a Tree is a book for curious children of all ages, exploring the life cycle of trees and the role forest fires play in this process.

Illustrator Rebekah Wilkins-Pepiton and author Lisa Silvestri began developing this book in the summer of 2018 when wildfires raged in the mountains of the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Southwest Canada. Grow Like a Tree poses questions drawn from their lived experience as new mothers during that hot, smokey summer. This book is an attempt to explain the complexity of the ecosystem and nurture a sustained curiosity about the interconnectedness of the living world.

Each illustration is a collage of paper cutouts painted with foraged ink on watercolor paper. The foraged materials include copper, sumac, horse chestnut, chokecherries, and a railroad spike. The items were found on the forest floor and throughout the urban jungle. The goal for the book is to inspire readers to dwell in wonder at the lifeworld around them.

Listen to an NPR interview and on-air reading, here.