9" x 6"
First published in 1953
USA

There is much to say about this short story, to me, it is about one person making a difference, it's about starting; putting the wheels in motion. A walker comes across a shepherd in the high plateau of Provence. He stays the night to discover the man is gathering acorns and steadily planting them throughout the barren landscape. The landscape and the people of the region are transformed over time. Giono lived in one small town near to us his entire life. He was a master in storytelling. He wrote about this work saying: "The goal was to make trees likeable, or more specifically, make planting trees likeable." He considered the book a great success as it was translated in a multitude of languages and distributed freely. He noted that, although "it does not bring me a cent", it is one of the texts of which he is most proud. An excellent documentarian of people and how to make change. I believe we need more Giono translated.