ZAMASAMA PRESENTS
A Guide for Teachers and Parents
Written & Illustrated
by
Liam Longland
By the end of this lesson, children will:
- Understand that trees provide homes, food, and safety for many living things.
- Be able to name several ways trees help people and animals.
- Explore how small actions — even by children — can protect the environment.
- Begin to imagine what might happen if trees are removed from a neighborhood.
Discussion Questions
1. Warm-Up Questions (Before reading):
- Have you ever seen a bird’s nest in a tree?
- What do trees give us? (Let children guess — shade, fruits, flowers, homes for birds…)
- Do you think it’s okay to cut a tree? When might it be okay, and when not?
2. During Reading (Wordless Exploration)
- What is happening in this picture?
- Why is the girl looking worried?
- What do you see in the tree? (Prompt gently: “Can you spot something small and round in the branches?”)
- Was the brother right in wanting to cut down the tree?
3. After Reading (Discussion):
- Why did the girl want to stop her brother from cutting the tree?
- What would happen to the birds if the tree was cut?
- Can you think of other animals that live in trees?
- What would your neighborhood look like if all the trees were gone?
4. Activities:
- Draw a Tree of Gifts: Children draw a big tree and add things it gives us—fruit, flowers, nests, shade, clean air, etc.
- Tree Detective Game: Walk around school/home and observe a real tree: Is it home to birds, insects? How does it smell? Feel?
- Role Play: Act out the story — someone as the girl, someone as the brother, and someone as the bird!
- Nest-Building Craft: Use twigs, cotton, string to build a “nest” in a box or bowl — understanding what makes a safe home for birds.
- Consequence Cards: On one card, draw a tree full of life. On another, draw what happens when the tree is gone. Let kids explain the difference.
- SDG 13: Climate Action
- SDG 15: Life on Land
SDG Explanation:
• SDG 13 – Climate Action: Trees help cool the Earth and keep the air clean.
• SDG 15 – Life on Land: Trees are homes for birds, insects, and small creatures.
- Jadav and the Tree Place: Single-handedly Jadav plants trees to protect the local flora and fauna. The place was soon a mini jungle.
- My Little Garden: A little boy and his Dad find a place covered in litter and transform it.
Children will begin to see trees as living homes and helpers — not just background objects. They will better understand the interconnectedness of life and feel encouraged to notice and care for the world around them.
Zamasama is a nonprofit platform that brings together stories from around the world to help children discover that beneath our differences—of culture, language, or belief—we share the same hopes, joys, and dreams.
Today’s children are tomorrow’s citizens, and the responsibility of building a more peaceful, tolerant, and empathetic world lies with them.
That’s why it’s vital to instill these values early—through stories that help them rise above the biases they inherit, and see diversity as a strength that unites us all.