Trees have their own secret language. Ecologists have learned how to listen to their stories, and we can, too. Joining science with poetry, The Wisdom of Trees imagines what trees would say if they could speak our language. Readers learn how trees protect themselves from predators by releasing chemicals that warn other trees and make their leaves less tasty. Like wizards, they clean and cool the air, filter greenhouse gasses, and establish a climate for other plants and animals. When one tree is hungry or sick, other trees can send nutrients through an intricate system of roots. Poetry on each page represents the voice of the trees, calling out to us in language both familiar and strange, asking us to protect them as they protect those in their forest family and teaching us to be better stewards of our planet.
Lita Judge is the author and illustrator of several award-winning picture books for young readers, including When You Need Wings, How Big Were Dinosaurs?, Bird Talk, Flight School, Red Sled, and the nonfiction In the Wild series. She also wrote and illustrated an acclaimed young adult free-verse biography of Mary Shelley, titled Mary’s Monster. She lives in the New Hampshire woods with her husband, two cats, and a parrot.
Ages 5-8
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