Tree

"

""Only God can make a tree,"" wrote Joyce Kilmer in one of the most celebrated of poems. In Tree: A Life Story, authors David Suzuki and Wayne Grady extend that celebration in a ""biography"" of this extraordinary — and extraordinarily important — organism. A story that spans a millennium and includes a cast of millions but focuses on a single tree, a Douglas fir, Tree describes in poetic detail the organism's modest origins that begin with a dramatic burst of millions of microscopic grains of pollen. The authors recount the amazing characteristics of the species, how they reproduce and how they receive from and offer nourishment to generations of other plants and animals. The tree's pivotal role in making life possible for the creatures around it — including human beings — is lovingly explored. The richly detailed text and Robert Bateman's original art pay tribute to this ubiquitous organism that is too often taken for granted.

~

Published in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation.

"

"""Tree explores the many amazing mechanisms by which the tree is able to thrive for hundreds of years while remaining rooted in one spot. The book also looks at the tree's rich and complex relationships with other organisms in it community...The story is a salute to life itself."""

"""Lyrical, richly detailed, and scientifically eye-opening, Suzuki's text is augmented by Robert Bateman's evocative original art. The result is a revelatory salute to life itself."""

"""Tree explores the many amazing mechanisms by which the tree is able to thrive for hundreds of years while remaining rooted in one spot. The book also looks at the tree's rich and complex relationships with other organisms in it community...The story is a salute to life itself."""

"""Lyrical, richly detailed, and scientifically eye-opening, Suzuki's text is augmented by Robert Bateman's evocative original art. The result is a revelatory salute to life itself."""