I’m usually opposed to both book destruction and the use of clichés but exceptions may have to be made for the new picture book from the Minnesota Historical Society, “How to Draw a Tree.”
The book is making me consider whether the cliché “suitable for framing” is an exaggeration because every one of Stillwater artist Colleen Muske’s illustrations is a stunner that would look great on a wall. Muske somehow makes her brightly-colored paintings seem both impressionistic and, because the author of “Linden: The Story of a Tree” clearly knows her way around a tree, photorealistic.
The realism is important because “How to Draw a Tree” really does want to teach us to do that. The inspiring text, by White Bear Lake writer David LaRochelle (a four-time Minnesota Book Award winner), offers simple advice on choosing a tree (“Rub your hand along its bark. Don’t be shy. The tree won’t mind.”) and how to capture its essence.
Fortunately, you don’t need to be able to put pen to paper in order to appreciate “How to Draw a Tree,” which includes about a dozen species, with illustrations of them at various times of year and identifying labels cleverly woven into Muske’s illustrations. A lovely final exhortation does remind us that the authors want to encourage aspiring young artists. But this is a book for people who love trees, whether they want to draw them or not.
How to Draw a Tree
By: David LaRochelle, illustrated by Colleen Muske.
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society, 32 pages.
Event: 10:30 Aug. 9, Red Balloon Bookshop, 891 Grand Av., St. Paul. Free.
