A 9,550-year-old spruce in Sweden, the dwarf trees of Lapland in Finland, and so much more: Wisdom from the Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, translated from the German by Jane Billinghurst, revels in the everyday drama unfolding in forests as trees go about their business of enticing bees with scented blossoms, pumping water into land-locked areas, and sharing news with each other through a dense underground network referred to as the "wood wide web."
Wisdom from the Hidden Life of Trees is an enchanting, pocket-size collection of insightful gems lifted from Wohlleben's splendid international bestseller, The Hidden Life of Trees. The author, a world-renowned forester, runs a sustainable forest academy in Germany. The artwork accompanying his animated narrative is superb, inviting peaceful contemplation and, as with all great art, a more meaningful reflection of one's own place in the world. Celebrating the vitality of old trees, Wohlleben (The Weather Detective) explains how they are full of energy and highly productive, contributing to the health of their forest habitat despite their advanced age.
Readers curious to understand why urban tree roots encroach into pipes or why identical trees drop their leaves at different times--it's "a question of character," the author explains--will be fascinated by Wohlleben's insights.
Wisdom from the Hidden Life of Trees offers a restorative literary sojourn into the natural world and an invaluable understanding of the marvelous complexity of forests. As Wohlleben writes, after one flips through the pages of this wondrous little book, "a walk in the woods will never be the same again." --Shahina Piyarali