Forest of Stories

There are over 100 stories from Asia and around the world in this tree-themed collection which we gathered into five themes: Tree of Dreams and Nourishment, Turning of the Seasons, Trees are Wild Things, Trees as Sanctuary, I Speak for the Trees. We hope this will be a useful resource for parents, teachers, creators of children’s content, and everyone who loves books.

When Singapore celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015, Forest of Stories is a tribute to our founding father, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, for his vision and legacy in transforming Singapore into a City in a Garden. A most meaningful way to honour his memory and legacy is to inspire our children and grandchildren to love and care for the environment through knowledge and making a difference each in our own way and as a community. This can be nurtured through imparting the joy of reading and the power of a good story.

Trees

Download Bibliography* (9.1MB)

* PDF of annotated bibliography published in 2015.

Sub-themes:

Trees

Tree of Dreams and Nourishment

This collection of stories reflect the wonder of trees that provide nourishment for both the body and the soul. As trees provide fruits that sustain our needs, they also provide beauty that feeds the soul. These “silent soldiers” also serve as sentinels of hope and courage that allow a young reader to find strength within.

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Trees

Turning of the Seasons

This theme shows the wondrous cycle of life of trees as the seed is transformed from sapling to imposing heights with roots firmly planted into the earth’s core with the passing of the seasons. There is also the realisation of the importance of lettng go as part of growing up with “one more leaf holding tight,” fluttering in the winds as the turning of me is marked with vibrant colours and whispering leaves.

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Trees

Trees are Wild Things

Captivating illustrations and tales celebrate the untamed nature of trees that inspire flights of fancy and plant seeds of things unseen and conceived in a child’s eye. From myths, folktales and fables to contemporary stories, children will be taken into a tangle of tales transforming trees into a “shade spiller” or a bear cave or even a “house held up by trees” with a little help from a wide-eyed child’s winged imagination.

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Trees

Trees as Sanctuary

Children will see trees as friends and as home through the voices of children, parents, grandparents and genera ons before. Trees not only provide shelter to living creatures, they also bear witness to a young child’s growth, societal progress, and genera ons of lives lived, lost, and saved. They serve as roots marking our ancestry, a memorial to societies long gone, and a keeper of secrets to those who find sanctuary in its shadowy branches.

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Trees

I Speak for the Trees

Children will be inspired by creatively illustrated books about trees (non-fiction), as well as empowering stories of fictional and real-life individuals who are changing the world, one tree at a me. In this collection, the many resolute voices and actions, young and old alike, as Dr Suess’ Lorax says, speak for the trees.

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