Review: The meaning of home and family: Discoveries
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 31, 2013
Tali Carmi's beloved little guy Terry Treetop has another adventure in store - and if you have not yet met Terry Treetop, then for sure check out Tali Carmi's other books in which he is the main character. But in brief, should you not know him as yet, Terry Treetop is a fun loving redheaded freckle-face lad who is happiest when climbing trees or being in his tree house.In this adventure Terry spies a butterfly on a flower, but when Terry wants to question the beautiful little butterfly the butterfly flies from flower to flower and in the chase Terry becomes lost. He meets Robby the Rabbit who extends an invitation to share his house and food. Terry, being a boy, it too big to fit into Robby's burrow house, and despite Robby's mother offering clover to eat, Terry doesn't find it tasty food. He is directed to the stream beyond which is his home, and at the stream he meets Bono the Beaver who offers Terry food if he can swim out to the beaver hut underwater: Terry, not being a good swimmer, declines but accepts Bono's favorite food - a water lily - which, like the clover, does taste good to Terry.  Traveling on he meet Freddy the Fawn whose deer mother offers fresh grass to the now ravenous Terry. Freddy's mom points the way to Terry's home, but on the way Terry meets Susanne the Squirrel who invites Terry into her too small tree house - and from that vantage Terry can see his home! Terry rushes home to his mom and apple pie and once again sees the butterfly that started his adventure - but this time Terry doesn't chase the butterfly, knowing that his home is the safest and most secure place on earth.Tali Carmi's story is beautifully illustrated with colorful images that celebrate not only Terry's tree house but also the various friends and their homes he has discovered. She fills the pages with kind behavior, adventures in discovery, and manages to share with children the habitus of individual animals.  All in all it is a terrific little story well wroth placing in your children's library. Grady Harp, August 13