Sometimes things happen by chance. A blue jay drops an acorn, a lucky acorn that happens to fall in just the right place and begins to grow.

Though it begins life as a tiny part of the forest floor, the acorn soon grows large enough to provide shelter for a fox, host for insects that in turn provide food for songbirds, and a home for many small creatures. Animals hibernate in its branches and among its roots, and humans rest in the cool shade it provides.

As generations of living things pass by the tree, the forest develops, and a town begins to grow. And the lucky tree is always there, though its form and size change.

In this picture book about the life cycle of a tree and the plants and animals that depend upon it, Henry Cole reminds us, in elegant prose and stunning black & white illustrations, of the importance of interconnectedness and the passage of time.