The Gentle Genius of Trees

by Philip Bunting (Author)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade
Let trees teach you everything from how to branch out to how to stay rooted in this delightful blend of nonfiction and inspirational humor by author-illustrator Philip Bunting! What could we clever humans ever learn from trees? Find out when you take a stroll through the woods and learn a few life lessons from our foliaged friends in this truly special book filled with graphic illustrations. With humor and heart, readers will encounter a small forest of facts. They'll explore the brilliance of trees in creating one interconnected wood-wide web that enables their community to collaborate with each other, share resources, warn of threats, and survive and thrive together.
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$18.99

Kirkus

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

ALA/Booklist

Starred Review
A terrific tribute to the 'wood-wide web.'

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4—A surprising amount of factual information about the biology of trees is served up with humor and rounded out with life lessons readers can take from the leafy giants that share the planet. Photosynthesis and carbon dioxide/oxygen exchange are economically explained. Children will be intrigued to learn of the role of an underground "wood-wide web" of mycelium that allows trees to communicate and share nutrients with one another. Bunting recommends emulating trees by supporting one another, appreciating diversity, and "push[ing] yourself toward the things that give you the most energy." Sprinkled throughout are quips, puns, and riddles that will entice kids to read every word, although some vocabulary will be challenging for the age group, such as foliaged, subterranean, and mutually beneficial. Pictures created with collage, gouache, and digital painting are arranged with plenty of clean space around them. Diagrams and labeled sequences add visual interest. VERDICT A playful yet appreciative overview of tree life that can be enjoyed by a slightly younger audience than Can You Hear the Trees Talking? by Peter Wohlleben.—Jan Aldrich Solow

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

Wry humor and googly eyes animate this playful, smart overview of the scientific processes that help trees to thrive. Bunting urges gratitude for all the ways "we hairy humans," portrayed with varying skin tones, benefit from woody species, and encourages amazement for the ingenious techniques trees have adapted to grow, communicate, and support one another. Infographic-like gouache and collaged illustrations portray a wide-eyed wildlife cast described with punny language: a mycellium-twined root system shares nutrients and information via a "wood-wide web of connections" ("Can I borrow a cup of glucose?" one tree asks another), and a parent tree shades a seedling to ensure its development occurs slowly enough to bolster longevity. With concluding spreads, Bunting further proposes life lessons that humans can learn from the "gentle genius of trees" ("Grow slow, grow strong"), circling back toward a subtly conservationist message of interconnection. Ages 4-8. (Jan.)

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

★ Sometimes wonderfully silly, always enlightening, this book branches out to become profoundly moving. —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ This amiable wander into the biology of trees...wraps up with a sweet social and emotional lesson, advising readers to take on the best tree qualities. —The Bulletin, starred review

Philip Bunting
Philip Bunting is an author and illustrator whose work deliberately encourages playful interaction between the reader and child, allowing his books to create a platform for genuine intergenerational engagement and fun. Philip's books have been translated into multiple languages and published in over thirty countries around the world. Since his first book was published in 2017, Philip has received multiple accolades, including Honours from the Children's Book Council of Australia and making the list for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2018. He lives with his young family on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9780593567814
Lexile Measure
890
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Crown Books for Young Readers
Publication date
January 31, 2023
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF037040 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Science & Nature | Trees & Forests
JNF053050 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Social Topics | Emotions & Feelings
Library of Congress categories
Picture books
Life cycles
Trees
Forests and forestry

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