“I am a tree,” she tells her visiting animal friends. Jelly Bean loves standing among the trees, and she “especially loves to nap with them.” As Jelly Bean rests, readers see a bird building a nest between her ears once awake, the giraffe stands motionless, protecting the bird and her eggs.

She is the author and illustrator of Early Bird and Night Owl. In addition to making art, Toni works in the King County library system. She studied painting at the University of Washington, where she worked with the great American painter Jacob Lawrence. She was born in Seattle and now lives in Bremerton, Washington, in a small house by the water. Toni Yuly has been an early bird all her life, and loves to start the day in the studio listening to other early birds sing outside her window. Working in with collage and torn tissue paper, Toni Yuly brings charm and humor to her bold, colorful artwork in this gentle story about friendship.' Can Jellybean be patient and still enough, day and night? Yes, with a little help from her friends. But when Mama Bird decides Jellybean is the perfect place for her nest, the giraffe suddenly has a big responsibility as she waits for the baby birds to hatch. She also loves napping with her head in the trees.

Jellybean the giraffe loves her forest and her friends even if she's too tall to play on the forest floor. But when Mama Bird decides Jellybean is the perfect place for her nest, the giraffe suddenly has a big responsibility as she waits for the baby birds to hatch.'

The Jelly Bean Tree by Toni Yuly