Sprout is a young sapling searching for a sense of belonging in a lively, vibrant forest. Despite the beauty around them, Sprout feels isolated. Guided by their guardian, Sprout meets a community of trees and discovers the importance of celebrating one’s own individuality.
A Tree Like Me exists as a musical journey through the forest, following Sprout on their path to self-love and celebration.
The album will be available on all major streaming platforms.
A Tree Like Me is a world much like our own. A world where we doubt our belonging, where we’re unsure what it means to be ourselves, but where we find strength and acceptance in community.
Creator, Derek Torsani, is a composer, artist, author, and above all a parent. He dreams of raising his own child in a world where we are encouraged and celebrated for loving who we are, exactly as we are. He conceived the world of A Tree Like Me to bring that dream to life, and hopefully nurture healthy relationships and conversations between children, parents, and all friends alike.
After writing the story of Sprout, Derek composed an album to accompany the book. He was joined by the legendary Baltimore vocalist, Ama Chandra, to improvise singing the poems of each moment of Sprouts journey through the forest meeting every different tree. To bring visual life to the story, he collaborated with Brazilian fantasy illustrator, Matsya Das, who has his own connection to trees stemming back to childhood. In his own childhood, Derek remembers daydreaming in the worlds of Jim Henson and PBS with his cousins. One day, he hopes to create A Tree Like Me in the physical world, to bring the stories of the characters to life through puppetry.