The Gentle Genius of Trees

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.)