The Short Tree and the Bird That Could Not Sing

A tree that resents its roots and a bird with the worst singing voice in the history of the avian species are the delightful characters in this quirky fable about two unlikely forces of nature: a spunky, unflappable bird and a stunted, insecure tree. Alone in the razed forest, the lonely tree is visited by the bird, who agrees to quit singing in return for being allowed to rest on the tree's branches—which are just the right size for her to hold onto. Each day the tree is delighted by the tales the bird tells him of the wonders she has seen when she flies away into the sky—a snow people's wedding, a circus, and a family of escaped balloons hiding in a cloud. Fall comes, and the bird flies south, unmoved by the tree's pleas for her to stay. Throughout the long cold winter, the tree finds company in the stars, the North Wind and even his own shadow. Spring returns, and so does the bird, bringing with her a souvenir from her winter in Florida—a piece of pink beach ball to adorn the tree's tiniest branch. And so the two unlikely friends are happily reunited. A moving fable about the environment, loneliness and love.