Bea Garcia is Back With Her New Project to Save the Old Oak Tree on Her School's Campus in This Fun New Graphic Novel

Fans of the fun-loving character Bea Garcia will be delighted with her new adventure in Deborah Zemke's new graphic novel Bea Garcia-The Tree and Me, the fourth installment to the Bea Garcia series. Graphic novels are exciting to read and young readers who might not have experienced a graphic novel will want to follow Bea as she and her friends set out to save the old tree on their school's campus from being cut down.

Bea and her friends love this old tree on their playground. Recess is always more fun when they join the tree with all kinds of activities. Bea and her best friend like to sit under the tree to read. Bea actually gives the tree a name, and her tree's name is Emily. Bea likes to write poems about her tree.

There is a problem when Bert, a pesky boy decides to start throwing acorns at everybody from the top of the tree named Emily. Burt had to be saved by firemen who had to come to the school to get him down because Emily the tree was so tall. The principal decides that Emily the tree must go. Bea and her friends are determined that Emily the tree will be saved. They use art and science to come up with a great argument for saving the tree. Young readers will find this to be a page-turner as they read to discover how Bea and her friends save the tree and Emily the tree is allowed to remain on the school's campus.

Deborah Zemke's cartoon-like illustrations make her newest chapter book a creative read for ages 8-12. Bea Garcia-The Tree and Me was published by Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin/Random House. It has an ISBN of 978-0-7352-2941-9.

Teachers who teach reading, creative writing, and science will want to add Deborah Zemke's latest graphic novel with a favorite character, Bea Garcia. to their classroom. Bea Garcia-The Tree and Me is a great choice for creating lessons about trees. It also offers the opportunity to teach teamwork and creativity.

*Read Bea Garcia-The Tree and Me in a group reading session with a few chapters read aloud each day for a few weeks. Students enjoy reading aloud and sharing stories with their classmates. Chapter graphic novels are a fun addition to the classroom reading sessions.

*Call attention to the kind of tree that Bea loves at her school. What kinds of trees does your school have on the school grounds? If your school has an oak tree, gather some leaves for examination.

*Why does the principal want the tree to be cut down? Is this the best solution for the problem with Bert? Brainstorm solutions with students to solve the problem that Bert causes.

*Offer the opportunity for a creative writing assignment to allow students to write a story about how to solve the problems that Bert creates with his behavior.

*Bea writes a poem for Emily the tree. Students might like to create their own poem for Emily the tree in a creative writing assignment.

*Bring acorns into the classroom to learn about how an oak tree is grown.

*Call attention to the arguments that Bea and her friends come up with to convince the town not to cut down Emily the tree. One of the arguments is that trees help to clean the air. Offer the opportunity for students to create a research project for learning about how trees are good for the environment.

*Bea and her friends enjoyed drawing pictures of Emily the tree. Offer the opportunity in an art center for students to draw their own pictures of trees.