One summer 11-year-old Nora T wants to learn about the trees on her grandparents property. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and her grandparents live on a farm in the country a couple of hours drive away.

When Nora T discovers that trees can be nominated for champion status, meaning they are the largest of their kind in the state, she decides to nominate the huge tulip poplar at her grandparents farm.

Nora T and the Champion Tree by Mona Martin Batchelor is an interesting way for kids to learn about trees and the natural environment around them. Nora T doesn’t get to see many trees from her city apartment, so she cherishes her time on the farm. While there for longer periods in the summer, she gets to go on trips with her grandparents, often to state parks where she learns a lot about the world around her.

Nora T also starts to help a woman named Ruth who is trying to save an old oak from being bulldozed to make way for the land around it to be developed. Along the way, she learns a lot of activism and making your voice heard when you think something is important.

Nora T’s story is well told. There’s a slight disconnect with the cover, which shows a small girl in front of a large tree. The girl appears to be much younger than 11, so I had to adjust my expectations of the girl after I started reading. Other than that, I found the illustrations and the story interesting. It even inspired me to look up the champion tree program in my own state, where I was surprised to discover someone I knew had nominated a few trees.

I recommend Nora T and the Champion Tree for readers aged 8 to 11.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book for review.