Big Tree

By: Brian Selznick, Brian Selznick - afterword

Narrated by: Meryl Streep

A 2024 Grammy Nominee for Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording!

The fate of all life on Earth may depend on the bravery of two little seeds in this epic adventure from the #1 New York Times bestselling creator and Caldecott Medalist of The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

"The tale of the natural world is the greatest story we have to tell, and Brian delivers a brilliant chapter of that tale throughout the pages of Big Tree." - STEVEN SPIELBERG

* "An enthralling and expansive meditation on what it means to be alive on this planet."-Booklist, starred review

* "A balanced and rich book. . . . Powerful."- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred and recommended review

* "In evocative prose and peppery dialogue . . . the cinematic story journeys across time and space, contemplating the power of life to heal."- Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "A special, one-of-a-kind book for the whole family that readers won't soon forget." - School Library Journal, starred review

"Inspirational, important, and beautiful. A fable for our times." - Alan Gratz, bestselling author of Refugee and Ground Zero

"Hello, stars. I thought I heard you calling me."

A mysterious voice has been speaking to Louise in her dreams. She and her brother Merwin are Sycamore seeds, who hope to one day set down roots and become big trees. But when a fire forces them to leave their mama tree prematurely, they find themselves catapulted into the unknown, far from home. Alone and unprepared, they must use their wits and imagination to navigate a dangerous world—filled with dinosaurs, meteors, and volcanoes!—and the fear of never finding a safe place to grow up. As the mysterious voice gets louder, Louise comes to realize their mission in life may be much bigger than either of them ever could have imagined!

Brimming with humor, wonder, mystery, and a profound sense of hope, Big Tree is a trailblazing adventure narrated by Meryl Streep and featuring music composed by Ernest Troost. It is Selznick's most imaginative and far-reaching work to date and a singular listening experience for the whole family!

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So good!

I wasn’t sure how this would work in audio since the physical book has chunks that are just drawings, but they adapted it really well, adding prose and sound effects to fill the gaps. The book isn’t as drawing-heavy as his older books, which helped. The audio production was very good—nice use of music and sound effects. And Meryl Streep was great! Sometimes famous actors aren’t good narrators because they’re famous for their own voice and aren’t good at doing others. But she had good voices that were easy to keep track of.

Beautiful

I am buying hard copies for so many people. I hope you have strong roots and wings

Pretty great!!!

I really liked this book. it was so discriptive . love the use of history and humor and fiction!

simply beautiful

this book was a joy and delight to listen to. it was moving , inspiring and educational. I hope they do someday get to make the movie . I'm not ready to leave these lovely characters and awe inspiring world .

I beautiful tale!

Beautiful book! I got it for my granddaughter also. I told all of the people I saw at school about it.

Horrible voice over!

I know she’s a legend but this unlistenable. It is a middle grade book not a picture book! The performance is so overwrought as to be insulting. My middle schoolers refused to listen to it even though I know it’s a great book. Will read it in book form, this is just comically bad VO.

who is the audience for this book?

The storyline started out nicely enough, somewhat terrifying for my 5-year-old, but obviously written for children. The plot moves very slowly, and is dialogue heavy. Lengthy and poorly written philosophical discussions about existence in the meaning of life. But kudos to Streep for giving it her best.