For anyone who has visited Washington D.C., have you ever wondered, "Why are there so many Japanese cherry blossom trees here?" Well this book, "Eliza's Cherry Trees," This book is a perfectly fine attempt at telling a probably lesser known story tied to American history. In this story, Eliza Scidmore is a wealthy American socialite who loved to travel. While on holiday, she visited Japan and fell in love with the cherry blossom trees there. When she returned to the United States, she made it her goal to see the beautiful trees somehow brought to Washington. Anyone who has visited D.C. in the past century would be able to tell you she succeeded.

Structurally, Andrea Zimmerman's book is meant to represent a narrative structure, but it is somewhat oddly constructed page to page. It starts off describing the main character's upbringing briefly, shifts to her world travels, and then starts the discussion of her goal of bringing cherry blossom trees to Washington D.C. The individual pages read like snapshots of a person's life without an effective flow between each part of the story. This could be forgiven if the artwork was well made and always fit with the text, but that does not appear to be the case.
The big problem with this whole book is its artwork. While I would personally like to support Pelican Publishing, since they are a local company based out of Gretna, LA, but since a major focus of this book is showcasing the natural beauty of the Japanese cherry blossom trees, they really should have hired an artist who could really portray their majestic beauty. Ju Hong Chen's backstory is interesting and he has apparently won awards for other books he worked on, but despite the stylistic choices, his art does not bring the natural beauty of the cherry blossom trees to life.
I personally find the story of how cherry blossom trees were brought to the United States interesting, and I assume children for this book's reading level would like it too, but this book is not the best way to portray why Eliza Scidmore thought the trees were so beautiful to begin with. ( )

What a great book for a class lesson about Washington D.C. This book shows the history behind the beautiful cherry trees in the nation's capital. Having gone to DC, it was so interesting to know that the trees have such meaning. This book is great for empowering students to do what they believe in, even after failed attempts. ( )

I never knew those Cherry Trees in D.C. symbolized a historical fact. I really enjoyed reading this book and believe that other children will too. I admire the illustrator's creativity of using colored art and sepia colored art. I also liked the author's purpose of including the timeline in the back of the book. It wasn't until then, that I realized this was an autobiography. I also like the emphasis the author placed on Eliza's character. She was a woman who proved to others that she was more than just a housewife. A phenomenal book about a piece of America's history that I don't believe many know about. ( )

Eliza’s Cherry Trees: Japan’s gift to America by Andrea Zimmerman, illustrated by Ju Hong Chen

The Text: In short, brisk sentences, Zimmerman tells the story of the life of Eliza Scidmore, traveler and journalist, and of her long quest to plant cherry trees in Washington D.C. Eliza was the first woman “to have an important job” at the National Geographic Society and she traveled to many places most people had never seen, certainly not the average American woman – Alaska, Russia, Japan, and more. Her interest in Japan and its culture encouraged her to take on the task of convincing Washington park keepers to plant cherry trees. It took over twenty years for her to convince them it was a good idea, but although Eliza is mostly forgotten, her cherry trees are a symbol of Washington D. C.

The Illustrations: Ju Hong Chen’s illustrations are mixtures of brilliant color, like Eliza’s first meeting with the parks keeper in a blaze of orange, and surrealistic landscapes as in Eliza’s introduction to cherry trees, where cherry blossoms float in giant cotton candy blobs above a flat green and blue background.

The Extras: A timeline of Eliza Scidmore’s life is included

The Verdict: This is not one of Andrea Zimmerman’s better efforts. The language sounds bland and choppy “She worked hard and made good money.” “Eliza was very happy” and is often vague, as when we are told Eliza has “an important job” with the National Geographic Society…doing what, exactly? The illustrations were uninspired and often had a flat, lifeless quality. Eliza’s life is interesting, but the text is too long for the average picture book – or preschooler - and the illustrations will not hold the attention of older children. I would have liked to have seen a chapter book of her life with more discussion of her travels and life in general and more original documents.

ISBN: 978-1589809543; Published March 2011 by Pelican; Borrowed from the library

This would be a nice choice for families visiting Washington DC to learn a little bit about the history of the cherry trees before they see them in person. It's also a serviceable choice for women's history since Eliza Scidmore bucked the trend of settling down with children in favor of traveling the world (in the late 19th and early 20th centuries). However, the story's simply nice, not particularly compelling or studded with historical facts. Eliza went to Japan, thought the cherry trees looked nice, and spent 24 years trying to convince men in government to plant them. A timeline of Eliza Scidmore's life is included at the end. ( )