-
Telephone of the Tree
- Narrated by: Sara Matsui-Colby
- Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pre-order for $9.90
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
An unforgettable story of grief and the support of community as a young girl, faced with aching loss, begins to understand that what we love will always be with us.
Ayla and her best friend Kiri have always been tree people. They each have their own special tree, and neighbors and family know that they are most likely to be found within the branches. But after an accident on their street, Kiri has gone somewhere so far away that Ayla can only wait and wait in her birch, longing to be able to talk with Kiri again.
Then a mysterious, old-fashioned telephone appears one morning, nestled in the limbs of Ayla's birch tree. Where did it come from? she wonders. And why are people showing up to use this phone to call their loved ones? Especially loved ones who have passed on.
All Ayla wants is for Kiri to come home. Until that day comes, she will keep Kiri's things safe. She'll keep her nightmares to herself. And she will not make a call on that telephone.
Critic reviews
"Inspired by Itaru Sasaki’s phone booth in Japan, where people can symbolically call deceased loved ones, McGhee lays bare the powerful emotions entangled with loss while demonstrating the strength found in community."—Booklist
"McGhee injects a speculative twist to this tender tale about death and grief. Employing spare, sensory language, McGhee explores the painful negative space created by loss and the devastation of a friendship cut short, as well as the healing found in moving forward while remembering that 'there’s more... so much more.'"—Publishers Weekly
★ “Rather than trot in a therapist or some other mouthpiece for wise counseling, the author gives her protagonist subtler (and more believably effective) help reaching that insight—most notably parents who give her space rather than unwanted advice, and her grandfather’s old telephone. Readers feeling Ayla’s profound sense of loss will be relieved when she finds a way to live with it. Raw and sad but lit with occasional glints of humor and ending, as it should, on a rising note."—Kirkus, starred review
Related to this topic
-
The Secret Garden
- By: Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Narrated by: Carrie Hope Fletcher
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary Lennox starts her life as an unhappy victim of circumstance. After the loss of her parents, she moves to rural Yorkshire to live with a distant uncle where she resents the wildness of the countryside. At first, she struggles to find a place in this new existence. Although unsure about her surroundings and its occupants, through the gentle guidance of the maid she gradually becomes interested in the story of Mrs Craven, who apparently used to spend her time in a garden at the house, the key to which has vanished.
-
-
Fabulous
- By Lady Lightning on 05-19-20
-
Jack And The Beanstalk & Other Stories
- By: BBC Audiobooks
- Narrated by: Lenny Henry, Sheridan Smith
- Length: 1 hr and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Jack and the Beanstalk", read by Lenny Henry
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears", read by Sheridan Smith
"Puss in Boots", read by Lenny Henry
"Snow White", read by Sheridan Smith. Here are four fantastic stories, full of magic and fun, that young children are sure to love!
-
-
Jack and the beanstalk
- By Amazon Customer on 03-02-21
By: BBC Audiobooks
-
Interview with the Robot
- By: Lee Bacon
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins, Ellen Archer, Josh Hurley, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eve looks like an ordinary 12-year-old girl, but there’s nothing ordinary about her. She has no last name. No parents or guardian. She’s on the run from a dangerous and secretive organization that will stop at nothing to track her down. And most astonishing of all: she’s a robot, a product of Eden Laboratories. When Eve discovers the truth, she realizes everything she thought she knew about herself is a lie. Eve manages to escape, fleeing the lab, the only home she’s ever known.
-
-
Good Short Listen
- By Ronnie on 01-07-20
By: Lee Bacon
-
The Reluctant Dragon
- By: Kenneth Grahame
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser
- Length: 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Boy lives in a cottage with his mother and father, and the Dragon lives in a cave on the Downs. The Boy is his only friend. The Dragon is not at all the sort of Dragon one might expect to meet, however: he's polite and friendly.
-
-
THE HAPPY BOHEMIAN DRAGON
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 07-20-17
By: Kenneth Grahame
-
The Ickabog
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The kingdom of Cornucopia was once the happiest in the world. It had plenty of gold, a king with the finest moustache you could possibly imagine, and butchers, bakers, and cheesemongers whose exquisite foods made a person dance with delight when they ate them. Everything was perfect - except for the misty Marshlands to the north, which, according to legend, were home to the monstrous Ickabog. Anyone sensible knew that the Ickabog was just a myth to scare children into behaving. But the funny thing about myths is that sometimes they take on a life of their own.
-
-
Oh, dear...
- By ili pika on 11-11-20
By: J.K. Rowling
-
Baker Street Four
- By: Penny Chrimes
- Narrated by: Bill Nighy, Paterson Joseph, Celia Imrie, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Baker Street Four follows Billy (Charlie Brand), Charlie (Kiki May), and Tom (Nathan Moses), three young apprentices of Sherlock Holmes (Paterson Joseph) who assist the famous detective in London’s dodgy East End. With the help of their faithful cat, Watson (Bill Nighy) and Sherlock’s beloved housekeeper Mrs. Hudson (Celia Imrie), this foursome takes local crimes into their own hands while Holmes is off solving mysteries abroad. Follow the Baker Street Irregulars as they pursue different cases, growing by the day as young detectives and as friends.
-
-
Very nice, hope more are produced!!!
- By Joshua Hendrickson on 01-05-24
By: Penny Chrimes
-
The Secret Garden
- By: Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Narrated by: Carrie Hope Fletcher
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary Lennox starts her life as an unhappy victim of circumstance. After the loss of her parents, she moves to rural Yorkshire to live with a distant uncle where she resents the wildness of the countryside. At first, she struggles to find a place in this new existence. Although unsure about her surroundings and its occupants, through the gentle guidance of the maid she gradually becomes interested in the story of Mrs Craven, who apparently used to spend her time in a garden at the house, the key to which has vanished.
-
-
Fabulous
- By Lady Lightning on 05-19-20
-
Jack And The Beanstalk & Other Stories
- By: BBC Audiobooks
- Narrated by: Lenny Henry, Sheridan Smith
- Length: 1 hr and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Jack and the Beanstalk", read by Lenny Henry
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears", read by Sheridan Smith
"Puss in Boots", read by Lenny Henry
"Snow White", read by Sheridan Smith. Here are four fantastic stories, full of magic and fun, that young children are sure to love!
-
-
Jack and the beanstalk
- By Amazon Customer on 03-02-21
By: BBC Audiobooks
-
Interview with the Robot
- By: Lee Bacon
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins, Ellen Archer, Josh Hurley, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eve looks like an ordinary 12-year-old girl, but there’s nothing ordinary about her. She has no last name. No parents or guardian. She’s on the run from a dangerous and secretive organization that will stop at nothing to track her down. And most astonishing of all: she’s a robot, a product of Eden Laboratories. When Eve discovers the truth, she realizes everything she thought she knew about herself is a lie. Eve manages to escape, fleeing the lab, the only home she’s ever known.
-
-
Good Short Listen
- By Ronnie on 01-07-20
By: Lee Bacon
-
The Reluctant Dragon
- By: Kenneth Grahame
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser
- Length: 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Boy lives in a cottage with his mother and father, and the Dragon lives in a cave on the Downs. The Boy is his only friend. The Dragon is not at all the sort of Dragon one might expect to meet, however: he's polite and friendly.
-
-
THE HAPPY BOHEMIAN DRAGON
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 07-20-17
By: Kenneth Grahame
-
The Ickabog
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The kingdom of Cornucopia was once the happiest in the world. It had plenty of gold, a king with the finest moustache you could possibly imagine, and butchers, bakers, and cheesemongers whose exquisite foods made a person dance with delight when they ate them. Everything was perfect - except for the misty Marshlands to the north, which, according to legend, were home to the monstrous Ickabog. Anyone sensible knew that the Ickabog was just a myth to scare children into behaving. But the funny thing about myths is that sometimes they take on a life of their own.
-
-
Oh, dear...
- By ili pika on 11-11-20
By: J.K. Rowling
-
Baker Street Four
- By: Penny Chrimes
- Narrated by: Bill Nighy, Paterson Joseph, Celia Imrie, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Baker Street Four follows Billy (Charlie Brand), Charlie (Kiki May), and Tom (Nathan Moses), three young apprentices of Sherlock Holmes (Paterson Joseph) who assist the famous detective in London’s dodgy East End. With the help of their faithful cat, Watson (Bill Nighy) and Sherlock’s beloved housekeeper Mrs. Hudson (Celia Imrie), this foursome takes local crimes into their own hands while Holmes is off solving mysteries abroad. Follow the Baker Street Irregulars as they pursue different cases, growing by the day as young detectives and as friends.
-
-
Very nice, hope more are produced!!!
- By Joshua Hendrickson on 01-05-24
By: Penny Chrimes