I’m always looking for creative ways to reach people about
the importance of plants and my husband recently found a book that I think
could be a great resource for young folks and people that are more receptive to
graphic depictions of information. The Hidden Life of Trees was originally
published in German in 2015 by Peter Wohlleben.
Later, an illustrated version was published with numerous photos but still lots
of text. In 2023, the version that I’m reviewing was published: The
Hidden Life of Trees: A Graphic Adaptation.
The book starts with some good explanations of physical processes
to set the stage: how do trees breathe, nutrient uptake, pollination, even how
new trees grow and the challenges that seedlings have to reach maturity. Also
included in the beginning are the role that trees play in their ecosystem: the
creatures that trees support over time from leaves, to bark, to nest cavities,
and even the support they play in death.
Chapters are titled Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter
and the beautiful illustrations follow that progression. A final Section, The
Return to Spring, is a bit of a post-2015 exploration of the impact of his
first book and musings on the impact of climate change and the human impacts
on global forests. The book is a love letter to trees while imparting
information about how important they are and helping us to understand how
special they are to our world. I downloaded the following page graphics from
the publisher’s website:
I hope that this creative approach will reach more people through its innovative approach. By the way, other books have also been created using parts
of the original to help communicate Peter’s message. You can find
them here.
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