“The Great Tree” by Able Barrett

The Great Tree

Able Barrett
The Last Road Dog Publications (2021) 
ISBN: 978-1667809977
Reviewed by Kenneth Onyenwe for Reader Views (02/2023) 

“The Great Tree” by Able Barrett is an epic thrilling fable. The story was told that in the evil sorcerer’s kingdom, there stood a very tall tree in front of the castle. People are prevented from entering this kingdom by fierce wolves and a Charnelgoul, who are constantly on the lookout for invaders.

Andrew and Nicholas are brothers who love each other. The evil sorcerer has been on a rampage in their village, and on that fateful afternoon, the sorcerer visits and kidnaps Nicolas. Andrew’s father was a mountaineer who died trying to rescue some trapped mountain climbers, and the mother has been down with a fever that might likely take her life. After many years, Andrew vowed to visit the sorcerer’s kingdom with a handsome dog he rescued from a hard-driving dog sled musher in the vast nomadic territory in search of his missing brother and to make his ailing mother happy. Did he succeed in this quest? Find out by reading this book.

In this book, I saw bravery in the eyes of Andrew and Jenny because this duo decided to visit the forbidden land in search of Andrew’s brother, regardless of what they heard about the land. I love the illustrations on the different pages of this book. It helps the reader get a clearer picture of what the author is describing. The character development in this “The Great Tree” is top-notch, and if there is one character I would love to bring over for dinner, it would be Nicolas, because of the bravery that allowed him to kill the great sorcerer.

The story in this book could very well pass for an explanation of the origin of Santa Claus and the Christmas tree. I feel the author did justice to the title of this book by telling a story that explained the origin of the Christmas tree.

“The Great Tree” by Able Barrett will serve as a perfect bedtime story for children between the ages of 6 and 9, but I also recommend this book to readers of any age looking for an entertaining story to pass the time.