Pick a Pine Tree
Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht takes about 3.5 minutes to read aloud (361 words, about 2 sentences a page), and it lands best with children aged 2-5.
Measured read-aloud timeabout 3.5 minutes
- Words
- 361
- Sentences a page
- 2
- Re-read tolerance
- 4/5survives a fortnight on repeat
- Vocabulary
- 2/5everyday words
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The useful verdict
Why Pick a Pine Tree works
It is written in second person and in the imperative - pick a tree, haul it home, hang the baubles, call the neighbours in - so the book is instructions the child is carrying out rather than a story happening to somebody else. Nothing is celebrated except decorating a tree with people you like; entirely secular.
Before you buy it
There is no plot and no conflict at all, which is exactly why it settles a child down and exactly why some four-year-olds shrug at it.
Themes: Christmas, Christmas trees, decorating, family, secular.
Same shape, new story
Books like Pick a Pine Tree
Matched by length, refrain, sentence density, and listener—not just subject.
The Night Before Christmasabout 5 minutes · 5/5 re-read
Maisy's Snowy Christmas Eveabout 2 minutes · 4/5 re-read
Construction Site on Christmas Nightabout 6 minutes · 4/5 re-read
Bear Stays Up for Christmasabout 4 minutes · 5/5 re-read
Room for a Little One: A Christmas Taleabout 3 minutes · 5/5 re-read
Straight answers
Questions parents ask about Pick a Pine Tree
- How long does it take to read Pick a Pine Tree aloud?
- About 3.5 minutes at an unhurried pace, from a word count of 361. Reading it fast shaves perhaps a third off; stopping for questions on every page can double it.
- What age is Pick a Pine Tree actually for?
- Ages 2-5 in our testing, which is narrower than the publisher's range. With 2 sentences a page and vocabulary at 2 out of 5, it asks for that much attention span and no more.
- Does Pick a Pine Tree survive being read on repeat?
- Yes. It survives a fortnight of nightly repeats, which is the real test.
- Is Pick a Pine Tree a good book for a child who will not sit still?
- It helps that it rhymes. Those three features are what keep a wriggling toddler listening, far more than the subject matter does.