When a Tree Falls Kids Book

The perfect read for exploring nature with children, this beautiful nonfiction picture book offers an awe-inspiring look at the forest's life cycle. A tree suns and sways in the forest. She is a place to grow, to rest, and to shelter. But what happens when a tree falls? The answer will make your heart soar. In this lyrical picture book, explore how the extraordinary nurse log provides a nutrient-rich space for new seedlings, shelters small animals, hosts different plant species, and, most profoundly, nurtures a new tree in the process, renewing the cycle of life. Young readers will be amazed by the nurse log's resilience and its powerful connection to the forest's past, present, and future.

Author: Kirsten Pendreigh
Illustrator: Elke Boschinger
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Publication Year: 2025
Reading Level: Grades 1-4 
Ages: 6-9 years 
Hardcover Picture Book
44 pages
Product Dimensions: 8.35" x 0.34" x 11.25"

About the author: Kirsten Pendreigh is a children’s author and poet from Canada's West Coast. Her recent nonfiction books include WHEN A TREE FALLS: Nurse Logs and Their Incredible Forest Power, (a PW starred review, Best Book 2025 Selection Canadian Children's Book Centre, and other accolades) and WHAT FISH ARE SAYING, (a School Library Journal starred review, Best Book 2025 Canadian Children's Book Centre and recommended Kirkus title). Her fiction books include MAYBE A WHALE ( a JLG Gold Standard, Horn Book Fanfare Selection, CCBC Best Book, recommended by the New York Times and Wall St. Journal), LUNA’S GREEN PET (a Quill & Quire and Canadian Children's Book Centre Best Book of the Year and Today Show Best Books for 4-year-olds). CAMPING IS A TERRIBLE IDEA is out in April 2026 and can be pre-ordered now! Kirsten's poems are found in Canadian literary magazines and in Best Canadian Poetry.