The Tree In The Courtyard: Looking Through Anne Frank's Window by Jeff Gottesfeld

In the picture book, The Tree In The Courtyard, the story of Anne Frank is told from the point of view of the horse chestnut tree that stood in the courtyard opposite the house in which Anne and her family took refuge.

The tree with its "flowers foaming cones of white and pink" in spring and its "spiky seedpods" each fall lived in the courtyard growing and stretching towards the sky. Then war came and with it the explosions, rockets and soldiers.

The tree which looked out over homes and factories saw a new family come to one of the factories. Every day the tree would see the two girls, one of whom was spirited and who wrote often. But one day the tree no longer saw the girls, except at the window in the factory annex. Soon others came to join her in that annex. The tree, now tall and strong, could see into the attic window of the annex. It saw that the girl often wrote in a red and white diary. The war dragged on for four years until one summer the girl and her family were taken away by "men in gray uniforms".

Another set of seasons passed by before the war ended. The tree never saw the girl again; only the father returned to the rooms in the annex, filled with sadness. As the years passed, many people came to the rooms in the annex where the girl had lived. By the close of the century the tree was dying. When a lightning strike finally damaged the tree that it had to be cut down, its saplings were planted throughout the world - a reminder of the tragedy that happened long ago in the annex.

Discussion

The Tree in the Courtyard by Gottesfeld is a poignant and subtle retelling of the story of Anne Frank through the perspective of a beautiful stately horse chestnut tree that really did exist outside the Annex where Anne and her family were hiding. In peacetime, the tree grows into a towering shade tree with a view of the houses around it. When war comes, the tree cannot help but notice the terrible changes. It sees what others cannot see and it notices the girl never returns after the war.

Although the girl is gone, life goes on for the tree until it begins to die. When the tree itself is in danger of dying, and every effort is being made to save it, the tree notes, "...how few had tried to save the girl." But both the tree and Anne Frank are destined to live on. Just as Anne's diary has been published worldwide in various forms and editions for all to read, the tree also has spread throughout the world, its seeds and saplings now growing in many countries as a reminder of what happened to Anne and her family.

The Tree in the Courtyard offers a fresh and unique perspective on the story of Anne Frank and is a wonderful way to introduce younger students to the events surround Anne and the Holocaust as well as World War II.

Peter McCarty has created illustrations that are captivating in their simplicity, using brown ink on watercolor paper and which capture the gravity of the events of Anne's life.

Gottesfeld includes an Afterword that explains who the girl is and what became of the tree outside the Annex. A beautiful picture book and a must add to any collection.


Book Details:

The Tree in the Courtyard: Looking Through Anne Frank's Window by Jeff Gottesfeld
New York: Alfred A. Knopf    2016