How to Read a Tree: Clues and Patterns from Bark to Leaves

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars | 540 ratings

Price: 14.32

Last update: 11-17-2024


About this item

In his singular, eye-opening books about the overlooked layers of the natural world – including The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs and The Natural Navigator – Tristan Gooley helps listeners reconnect with nature by finding direction and searching for hidden clues in stars, clouds, water and more. Now, he turns his attention to perhaps nature’s most beloved feature – the stately, majestic tree. Every single tree tells us an epic story – if we know how to read it! Here you’ll discover hundreds of astonishing secrets hiding in plain sight among the living network of branches, trunks, roots, bark, leaves, buds, flowers, stumps and more. A pale line down the centre of a leaf indicates that water is nearby; a touch of reddish or purple bark signals new growth; low-growing, young branches reveal that a tree is struggling to survive. Tapping into this silent language of trees sharpens our understanding of the environment. To read a tree is to paint a whole new and vivid portrait of the surrounding land, soil, weather, animals, people and even time. You’ll never see a tree the same way again.

Top reviews from the United States

ALLy Turnbull
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2024
A gem of a book. A scientific book written as an interesting novel. I will never look at trees the same way again !.
Bama Fan
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and engaging!
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2023
I absolutely loved this book! I've read several of his other books before and this one might be my favorite. Gooley is the master of providing a way to examine patterns and this pattern recognition is so much more beneficial than trying to memorize specific traits of a single species. This book includes personal stories of his experiences as well as some good pictures and drawings that help to illuminate the concepts that are discussed in the book. I have a science background and have taken several ecology classes and I still learned a great deal from this book but it is written in a style that will pique the interest of someone who is looking to expand their horizons in exploration or someone like me who has been on numerous hikes who now sees the same paths in a different light. Can't recommend this enough as it will help to change your perspective for the good!
M. M. Burn
4.0 out of 5 stars Information given is more general than specific.
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2023
I like this book, don't get me wrong. But ... I was hoping for a bit more instruction on how to read a tree rather than a general guide to the concept that trees reflect their environment. Having said that, it's a great discussion of the interconnectedness of all the aspects of an environment such as light/shade, water, soil composition, and how trees have evolved to match where they appear. I haven't finished the book and it's possible that reading the whole thing will eventually get me where I hoped to be as far as knowing exactly what to look for and how to interpret it. Meanwhile, I understand much more about trees, and also how climate change may impact them faster than they can adapt (not something the author hammers on but something I recognize).
Krishna
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2024
This is a good read, worthy of repeating.
Don Wendorf, Psy.D.
5.0 out of 5 stars Best tree book ever.
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2023
I could write a book about this book. After the first five pages I knew my forest hiking was already permanently changed. After five more I began ordering copies for some fellow tree-loving friends. Later still I felt my brain could not hold any more information and figured Gooley must be running out. No, I was only halfway through. How could I have been walking by so many trees for years and not seen all this, read so many books about trees and not known all this? Well, Gooley has dedicated his life to seeing all these stories in the leaves, bark, trunk shape, root patterns, branching, etc., etc. and he's just really, really good at it. But, he makes it all so clear and it's as easy to read as a novel (I'd planned to read a few pages a day. So factual). My advice is to stop reading reviews and just order it. Better get a couple.
Avid Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Trees
Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2024
I originally read this book via library loan. I liked it so much, I decided to purchase my own copy. Thanks!
BRWarren
5.0 out of 5 stars I am not sure how to know more about trees
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2024
Author is very knowledgeable about trees and demonstrates it by filling this book with more than you can ever remember about them. I think that the authors writing style compliments the content and intent of the book perfectly, rarely do I enjoy reading a book as much as I have enjoyed this one. If you are interested in nature, survival, scouting, or maybe you just want to be the woods know-it-all it you would benefit you to purchase and commit to memory the contents of this book.
R. C. Brusca
4.0 out of 5 stars 373 pages of details and minutia about tree shapes
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2024
If you like love stories, you might like this book. Tristan Gooley has a love affair with trees that exceeds anything you’ll ever read in a romance novel. But 373 pages of details and minutia about tree shapes might be a bit much for most people. However, if you're truly gaga about trees, this is your book.

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