Reviewed by Robin Schneider

This is the true story of a man who loves trees, and plants them all around his house. Over time, most of the trees grow tall and beautiful. Only the walnut tree is still small. When the man's children complain that the walnut tree is not beautiful, fun, or useful, the man uses the opportunity to teach them lessons about life. One day, the walnut tree dies and the man finds a way to put it to use.

The man in the story, of course, is President Gordon B. Hinckley. It was fun to read the story to my children and watch their faces as they looked at the pictures: How long would it be before they figured out that "the man" was the prophet? (My oldest figured it out early on; it was quite a surprise for the younger two!)

Embedded throughout the story are little nuggets of wisdom, life-lessons which we and our children would do well to learn. The lessons are hidden in the story, but in the back of the book, they are written out plainly and related scriptures (both reference and text) are printed below. For example, for lesson #3, "The best things give all they have, even if it isn't very much", the reference given is Mark 12:41-44, the story of the widow's two mites. These scriptures would be a great way to help turn the book into a Family Home Evening lesson.

The best part of the book, though, is the beautifully written text. When I had finished reading, my children demanded an encore performance. When that was finished, they begged me to read it a third time. After I managed to "escape" from reading aloud, I came back later to find my nine-year-old reading through the list of related scriptures.

I think most children under the age of twelve will find this book captivating. I highly recommend it to anyone with a young family.