Whether a homeschooling family or not, we as parents can often feel the pressure to have all the answers for all the things all the time. And even though Google and other search engines can be very useful, I much prefer poring over a book on the topic with my kiddos or getting a book out of the library for them to do some personal learning on their area of curiosity. (I was hunting for books on crows just last month!) This is where The Tree Book comes in! We LOVE learning about nature, so I went a step further and made this book part of our personal library.
The first ten chapters embark (pun intended) on a lesson on tree basics– types of leaves, cones, bark, how trees change in different seasons – to name a few topics. I appreciate the thoughtful amount of information that was written in each two-page chapter, being concise yet highly educational, with bolded words leaving the older or more inquisitive reader to do further research using the book’s included Glossary. Reading through without delving into the definitions will still give younger children a fantastic start to their understanding about trees. I was struck by Gina Ingoglia’s way of deftly balancing solid scientific facts with comparisons that any age can understand, all the while challenging each of her readers to use their newfound knowledge when “bark scouting” or when they next look at a leaf. It is both inviting and approachable, and you really get the sense that she isn’t just writing to teach the reader; she desires us to engage with the trees we encounter.
Following these first few chapters, we are introduced to thirty-tree different tree species, each with their own open-page spread, with just two sharing the same one. Ingoglia gives the scientific name for each tree and then shares interesting facts such as: how it came to be in North America, possible struggles for this tree to thrive, or even what this tree is used for. She then touches on the different parts of that specific tree, in word and illustrations, both of which have been reviewed by multiple experts at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
This book has been a hit with my now nine-year-old daughter since I brought it home last year. But if I’m honest, it wasn’t love at first sight for me. Let me explain. I grew up in the generation of children who pored over National Geographic magazines, reading about animals, people and places while looking at stunning photography of them all. Yet, The Tree Book has exactly zero photographs of trees in it, with not even one on the cover. I think this lack of photographs was a message to my subconscious that this book could not possibly do a sufficient job at teaching on such a detailed topic. And here I sit, humbly corrected. Ingoglia, author and illustrator, went to great lengths to present to us beautiful and accurate drawings of both a grown tree in a charming setting, as well as some of the tree’s leaves, buds, flowers, or fruit. The kids and I were able to flip through the pages on a recent nature walk, easily spotting the accurate drawings of the acorn and leaf of a white oak, confirming my daughter’s guess of which tree we had spotted. Ingoglia’s paintings in this book even earned her the Garden Writers Association Award for Best Illustration!
Although this book highlights trees in North America, the author’s focus is on those found in the United States. But don’t let this dissuade you if you live elsewhere, though you may wish to pick up a guidebook for trees in your area to read in tandem with this book. The Tree Book will encourage curiosity and help your children to become better observers of the world around them. Even I found myself looking up at the trees with greater awareness and appreciation on our last nature walk. I wholeheartedly concur with this book’s clever subtitle; this truly is a book “for kids and their grown-ups.” (Emphasis mine.)
Photo above taken by my 9-year-old on our most recent nature walk. <3
The Tree Book – For Kids and Their Grown-Ups by Gina Ingoglia
Published in 2008, 2021
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