THE GENTLE GENIUS OF TREES

Trees and humans are alike in many ways.

The roughly 3.4 trillion trees on Earth are more than just big plants there to provide humans with wood. They’re highly evolved, community-driven networkers that grow and adapt in ways that people can’t see. In Bunting’s capable hands, trees are also funny and loving; the book combines science and dad jokes to convey the many lessons we can learn from our woodsy friends. Clever illustrations help make the point that, like us, trees are living, social things, such as a human lung drawn to look like an upside-down tree or a tree’s root system drawn to resemble the folds of a human brain and called a “subterranean cerebrum.” Bunting details the ways that trees use their complex root system (“the wood-wide web”) to help each other (for instance, when a tree is injured, other trees send nutrients) and how they change the way they grow (e.g., making sure branches closer to the sun grow more) to ensure survival. The narrative then shifts from silly jokes (“How do you make an oak tree laugh? Tell it acorn-y joke”) to rather insightful lessons from nature. Like trees, Bunting suggests, people should look out for others, stay centered when things get tough, and most of all, “Grow slow, grow strong.” People depicted are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Sometimes wonderfully silly, always enlightening, this book branches out to become profoundly moving.