The Toast Tree

By Corina Martin and Fren Martins, Magabala Books, 2015.

Ella and Mia live in a small dusty town surrounded by the sea. When their grandfather brings home squares of delicious toast picked from a magical tree growing int he sand dunes, they set off to look for the very special tree.

Grandpa has access to a magic toast tree and he surprises Ella and Mia with delicious honey toast when he returns from work every afternoon. The toast is delicious and tastes better than any toast they’ve ever tasted. They love it when Grandpa brings home the toast and they want to know where he gets it from. ‘The toast tree grows in the sand dunes,’ he tells them. The girls decide to search for the toast tree themselves, but instead of finding the toast tree, they discover a flower that tastes like honey. Grandpa sees them and scolds them, and tells them the magic sill stop if they find the tree. Because the girls don’t want the magic to stop, they leave the flowers alone.

If your child has ever dreamed of a magic tree that bears their favourite food, they will enjoy this story.

The Toast Tree is based on the author’s own experience as a child, where her grandparents made her believe in a magic toast tree. The author, Corina Martin, is a Kija, Jaru and Gooniyandi woman from Broome, Western Australia, and the characters of Ella and Mia were based on her own grandnieces.

I was surprised when I first picked up this book because Ella and Mia share the same grandfather, yet they both have quite different coloured skin. I was intrigued and confused about this until I reached the end of the book where I saw the photograph of the author with her two grandnieces. This is an honest representation of the blend of cultures we see in Australia today.

I really like how this publishing house (Magabala Books) always have a short biography of the author and illustrator at the end of their books.

Download the Teacher Notes.

Awards

Shortlisted: Speech Pathology Australia’s 2016 Book of the Year Awards (Indigenous Children’s category).