How to Read a Tree

I had to pick this up as soon as I saw a paperback copy of it as I always love a good piece of nature writing, especially about trees!

The book is built into chapters that explore aspects of the structure of a tree or how it interacts with its environment.

For example the chapter ‘The Roots’ talks about how roots are influenced by various environmental interactions and how these can be used to navigate using these signs.

This idea of using trees as a navigational aid is the core of the book, but this is always supported with how the tree interacts with its environment and what type of tree it is, tortoise or hare.

Really enjoyed this format for looking at natural phenomena as it worked for my mind, each chapter had fascinating facts which built on and reinforced the facts and ideas from the previous chapters helping to build a complete picture of how to use all this information that was coming in great small packets.

This is a great book to read in a couple of sittings, but is also prefect to dip in and out of when you have five/ten minutes as each chapter is broken down into small sections within it.

Even better as it’s not that heavy a book is to have it with you as you explore trees, looking for the signs that Tristan explains (which is what I’m going to do 😁)

A great addition to any natural history collection which helps to get to know our natural world a little bit better and appreciate out leafy neighbours better.