The Sultan’s perfect tree was a story about a King who needed everything and everyone to be perfect. He believed he was perfect, his servants were perfect, and his kingdom was perfect. One day a strong wind came across the land and made the King’s perfect garden not so perfect anymore. The King was very frustrated by this because the tree in the center of the garden was planted by his grandfather, and the tree always looked so perfect. So the King demanded that a picture of a tree be drawn and put in front of his view of the garden, so that he may enjoy the perfect tree like he used to. But every time the seasons changed, the king wanted a new painting of the tree. Towards the end of the book we learn that not everything can remain perfect, but things need time to grow, just like the tree. I thought that this book would be a good read for children because it can teach them a lot of lessons. For instance, nothing is perfect, things happen in life that we can’t control, and may not like. But what we must remember is that we must give things time to get better, or in this case allowing the tree to grow into its perfect state again. I also think this would be a good social studies lesson by teaching the students what a Sultan is and where it originates from. The illustrations were also interesting; they gave off a bit of a medieval type of feel. ( )

The Sultan will not take anything less than perfect. He has perfect servants, a perfect garden, and a perfect tree, and of coarse he is perfect. He loved his perfect Autumn tree, until one day when winter came and it was no longer perfect. So, he got the best painter and the painter painted the window with a perfect tree. The Sultan was happy for a while until he noticed that the tree never changed. He was very unhappy and the whole palace wept. Then the young servant girl fixed the problem by taking down what covered the tree outside. It wasn't perfect, but "it is growing," the girl said. The Sultan agreed it wasn't perfect, but he was happy that it was growing and living. I like this book, because it shows that not everything can be perfect, and that the most perfect things in life are not perfect. But the beauty of imperfection is better than that of false perfection. ( )

Sultan wants all around him to be perfect, then realizes they don't change or grow