The story is about a little fir tree that is too small and too imperfect’ to be chosen to be decorated at Christmas time. He is different from the other trees around him and ever since being a sapling he knew it was “plain to see that I was never, ever going to be a perfect, grown-up tree.”

As families choose the other trees as Christmas trees, the little fir tree is left alone in the forest. Before long, the forest animals gather around the lonely little tree to offer festive cheer and encouragement that the creatures great and small appreciate him just as he is. The story ends with a happy springtime scene with the tree providing a home for forest animals and a shelter for two children reading their books, alongside the tree’s warm assertion that he is ‘the tree that’s meant to be.’ At every stage, Zommer’s beautiful illustrations are charming and filled with details and patterns that tell of the joys of looking closely at nature.

This is a hope-filled book with the natural world at its heart, cutting through the commercialism of the festive season to offer a gentle and encouraging message about celebrating difference and finding one’s place in the world.