The Tree That Didn’t Want to Be offers young readers a message about the importance of each individual through a creative and endearing tale. We begin our lives as unique individuals and learn a lot about things as we grow. We do not always like what is around us, and while that can be difficult, we learn to live for the good things. Bad things might occur that make us want to give up, or people might do things that make us dislike them. We can also learn, however, to look for the good in people and in events, even when the positive outcomes are not obvious at first. With The Tree That Didn’t Want to Be, Jeffrey Evert reminds us that we are all here for a reason, whether that is to change the world or to make a difference in our own small way.