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Young Facile wants to plant a tree in honor of his new baby sister, but he faces many obstacles.  The first seed he plants is eaten by a goat, the second seed is washed away in a storm, and another is burnt by scrub fire.  Will Facile ever be able to plant a tree that will grow strong for baby Lucia?

This story of determination, faith and love introduces the reader to the realities of rural life in the mountains of Haiti.  Imbued with brilliant colors, expressive characters and vivid landscapes, Linda Saport’s illustrations capture the indomitable spirit of hope.

Behind the Story

When I was living in Haiti, I took a hike with a friend.  As we climbed higher into the mountains above the Artibonite Valley we saw several stone structures in the distance.  They came and went out of our view as we followed the path over and around dusty, treeless ridges.  They were round structures made of sun-bleached stone.  Curious, we tried to guess what they might be.  Ovens for baking bread?  Vessels to collect precious rain water?  This experience gave me the idea for Circles of Hope.

I knew about the effects of erosion and had observed the desperate state of the environment on this tiny island country.  I used what I learned first hand about the frustrations of tree planting and effort put into reforestation along with the significance of trees for the people of Haiti to write this book.  It began as a story for adults and as with most of my books it went through many rewrites.

Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

Buy the book: Amazon

Download the Teacher's Guide for this book. [1.5 MB PDF]