Mert the Anxious Evergreen

By Claire Bowman

Troubled by encroaching land development, Mert hopes to be chosen as a Christmas tree so he can save Hickory Flats farm and forest. Mert's understanding of Christmas spirit evolves as he conspires with his friend John the cat to overcome new obstacles.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9780991135905

Book preview

For everybody

Special thanks to David, Sarah and Rene, Mom and Roland, Dad and Jena, Emily, the Falls family, Gina, Todd, Nina, Shinwha, Mary and Jeff, Ken Buckman, Mike Burns, and John Begonsen.

Mert was aloft!

The terrifying growl of the mower’s engine faded as Mert, the evergreen seed in his cone, soared over the wooden fence to safety, landing softly under the broad arms of an enormous fir tree.

Welcome to your forest, Mert, said his wise mother, relieved.

From where he lay, he could just make out the expression of a young farmer standing by his vegetable garden. The young farmer, Cole, looked pleased with himself for having tossed Mert to safety just as Ol’ Joe’s mower approached. Mert the seed was spared, and he was instantly full of gratitude. He vowed that one day he would somehow return the favor to Cole.

Mert the seed broke free from his cone and slid to the ground. Upon his release, the elder trees burst into song. For the first time, Mert beheld the sublime song of the elders. Mert was enchanted by his mother’s beautiful voice as she sang. How did you learn to sing like that, Mother? he asked.

It was simple, she recalled. When I first heard the eternal music of the earth, I simply began to sing along, as easily as a baby fawn learns to stand when it discovers its legs. Before the age of noise, even the first humans could hear it, and they would sing too.

Will I learn to sing one day too, Mother? Mert asked eagerly.

I hope so, Mert, but these days most young trees don’t tend to sing because the music of the earth has been shrouded by the clamor of modern distractions.

Then, an unpleasant sound clashed against the serene song. The snarl of distant chainsaws came to Mert’s ears, followed by the faraway crashing of grandfatherly trees. Mert’s tiny heart became anxious at the sound of those saws.

Over the next couple of years, Mert sprouted and grew into a bright little fir. He enjoyed watching Cole and Ol’ Joe tend the farm. They worked very hard from morning until night and seemed to enjoy the labor.

One day,

Reviews for Mert the Anxious Evergreen

[jbarr5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mert, The Anxious Evergreen by Claire Bowman Illustrated colorful children's book about how an evergreen tree starts out. The seed, Mert was saved by the mower and now year after year he's getting bigger. He is able to talk to other things along the way that come into his life.He is finally big enough to be a real Christmas tree for somebody and he is excited about being decorated.There are many others involved and politics take over in the form of developers that want to destroy the land to make way for buildings...Love how they all band together to fight...like how the story evolves and what they all have to go through to save what they believe in.I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.