When I came across this book I was immediately intrigued to find out if Katherine Applegate was the same author as K.A. Applegate, author of the Everworld books I read as a child. After a small amount of research I realised it was the same author and so I didn’t hesitate to order Wishtree to read to my own child – we’ve come full circle! I read this aloud to my seven year old boy at bedtime over a few nights. The story is told from the POV of Red, a two-hundred-something year old red oak tree. My little boy especially loved the descriptions of all the animal families that live around Red and found it absolutely hilarious when Bongo the crow talked about leaving ‘deposits’ on the people she doesn’t like. I really enjoyed that Red, being static, couldn’t know some parts of the story until they were revealed later. Red is a Wishtree – he receives wishes from the people who live in his town when they tie scraps of paper or fabric to his branches with their wishes on. The story follows Samar, a young girl from a Muslim family who has recently moved into the neighbourhood. Without spoiling anything, there are some beautiful messages about immigration, belonging, friendship and islamophobia in this book. I had some brilliant conversations with my son as a result of some of the themes. It got quite difficult to read towards the end as the pages blurred with the tears in my eyes – grab some tissues! I found this to be a genuinely moving story. As well as having a beautiful message, the book also has some beautiful illustrations. I would recommend this book to anyone with children, especially if you would like a way to introduce discussions around immigration and islamophobia. My seven year old enjoyed the story too and when we finished reading Wishtree, he asked me if I have any others like this – high praise indeed!