For many seasons, the littlest evergreen lives a peaceful life growing up alongside many other evergreens. Then one day men come with chainsaws and cut all of the trees down, except for the littlest evergreen, which is too small. The men ball up the tree’s roots and sell the littlest evergreen at a market, where a family brings it home and decorates it with strange things called "ornaments." Once the season has ended, though, the family replants the tree and cares for it for years to come.

Told from the tree’s point of view with a touch of irony, Henry Cole’s story sends an environmental message about caring for all living things.