The main characters in this book are a hedgehog, rabbit and mouse. But other animals also appear in the illustrations – Can you find them? How many animals have you found? “Did you find me in the illustrations?”
Do you, much like the pine tree, feel lonely sometimes? Have you ever seen a boy or girl who seemed a little lonely? You may want to discuss this feeling of “being all alone” and what we could do when we – or those around us – feel this way.
The Jerusalem Pine (more commonly known in English as the Aleppo Pine) is the species of pine trees that grows in Israel. It is highly prevalent in the Carmel and Judea Mountains areas. As the Jewish community, the Yishuv, grew, it began to plant large pine tree forests in the Land of Israel. The pine tree contains resin, and in springtime, its branches are densely filled with pinecones. Would you like to learn more about the pine tree? Feel free to look for images and additional information online.
What will happen once the trees grow and a forest is created? Will they be friends with the pine tree? Will other friends come and visit? And what will the children do in the new forest? – You may enjoy discussing the next chapter of the book, acting it out, or drawing it together.
Am I the wind blowing? Or the falling rain? Perhaps a leaping rabbit? You could play a form of charades by taking turns miming one of the characters in the book, and having the others try to guess which one you’ve chosen.
How about picking a tree in your area and taking care of it? You could clean around it, place a mat under it, and observe the small animals that use it as part of their habitat. If you look carefully, you may even catch it smiling.
What is your responsibility, as parents and children, for your friends, family, and environment? Which roles do you play within the family, and which additional roles would you like to assume responsibility for in order to help others and your surroundings? Perhaps you could discuss and make suggestions that would help your family in their day-to-day, such as: sweeping the porch; checking in with a sick friend; recycling bottles, paper, and bio-degradable materials; set the table for dinner, or tightly close leaking faucets.
Cut out some paper leaves. Each family member gets some leaves, and writes suggestions for actions that would be considerate of other members of the family, such as: leaving enough warm water for others to shower; feeding your pet hamsters, or saying ‘good morning’ with a smile. Make your tree in painting form or some other artform using recycled materials or tree branches you have collected, and attach all the leaves to it.
You could try to put your ideas to practice. How about deciding to try out one suggestion each day? And if it doesn’t go too well for you, don’t worry, tomorrow is another day…
Suggestions and examples can be found on the PJLibrary Pinterest page – The Juice Tree.
The villagers must cooperate for the tree to grow more leaves. Games are a delightful way of working together as a family: cut out a paper leaf, and stand in a row. Ready? Here we go!
Pass the leaf round from one player to the next without touching it with your hands. If any of you struggle, help by giving them advice and cheering them on. By way of celebrating when the game is over, enjoy your favorite beverage.
Raise your glass to your cooperation, and the many collaborations still to come!
The book ends with Mr. Milly’s silence. He smiles, and helps water the tree. And then what happens? You could try to continue the story from this point: What was Mr. Milly thinking while he smiled quietly? What happened to the juice tree and the villagers? Did they keep on picking a single leaf? Or did something surprising happen down the line?
Magic drawings. It is not always easy to start drawing on a blank page. You may enjoy making magic drawings with your child: use different crayons to color an entire white sheet of paper in various colors, then add another layer of black crayon on top of it. Now, using a coin or bamboo skewer, draw anything you like on the black coat of paint, and whatever you draw will come out multicolored.
Adding good. What is missing from the world around you? You could take a look around your home with your child, or around your street, kindergarten, neighbors’ and friends’ houses: what could you do to make the world a better place? Perhaps you could decide to decorate the garbage can in your building together, help a neighbor with a task they find difficult, or simply try to use words like “thankyou” and “please” more often, and smile at the people you meet.
Rhyming and rhymes. Your child could actively participate in the reading experience with the help of the rhymes. In time, they may even be able to “read” the book on their own. Do you like wordplay? You may enjoy making up some rhymes of your own.
Color hunting. The world is filled with color, and you may want to take a walk around the neighborhood to discover them. Take a white sheet of paper along with you, and some crayons, and go hunt colors. Each time you spot something, draw a circle of the same color on your sheet of paper: for blue skies, draw a blue circle; for a red road sign, draw a red circle; and so on. At the end of your walk, you will have a beautiful, colorful sheet of paper.
Drawing together. You could also take a blank sheet of paper and some crayons, and make a joint drawing: parents start out by drawing a line, dot, or patch of color, and their child adds another detail, followed by the parent, and so on. By the end of this exercise, you will get a shared drawing to which each of you has contributed their share.
“I have created a critter”. In the world created by Paul Kor there are purple waves, pink stars, and imaginary critters. You could also create imaginary creatures with your child using playdough or clay. You may want to decide what color your critter will be together, how many eyes it will have, and what it will be capable of doing.
The Hedgehog Who Said: Who Cares? 
The Lonely Pine Tree 
The Juice Tree 
Beautiful World 
מִשְׂחָק
סִרְטוֹנִים
הַעֲשָׁרָה
שִׂיחָה
שִׂיחָה
שִׂיחָה
שִׂיחָה
לָצֵאת הַחוּצָה
הַשְׁרָאָה
יְצִירָה
מִשְׂחָק
כְּלָלִי
שִׂיחָה
כְּלָלִי
יְצִירָה
הַעֲשָׁרָה
כְּלָלִי
יְצִירָה
יְצִירָה
שֵׁמַע
– suggestions for game cards and arts & crafts can be found on the PJLibrary Pinterest page.
