Art & Oakie Ask celebrates the power of using one’s voice to speak up for the environment. The nearly wordless books illustrated by Josiane Vlitos and written by Josh Oaktree, with creative direction from Amelia Boscov, make for a great introduction to environmentalism for young readers.

 

In the first book Do You Speak Tree?, Oakie the good-natured oak tree goes on an adventure to find someone who will speak up for the forest. The problem is that Oakie  speaks “tree,” a fun visual language that no one else understands. That all changes when Oakie meets Art, an elementary student with a crayon in hand and a plan in mind to inspire the world.

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The second book Do You Speak Bear? continues Art and Oakie's adventures as they speak up for all animals who call the forest home.

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In the above educators' guides, you will find discussion questions for teaching your students how to speak Tree and Bear. Better yet, they may teach you!