Happy National Love a Tree Day!

 

 

Happy National Love a Tree Day! Who knew? I love trees every day, and even more so since I read The Wisdom of Trees: How Trees Work Together to Form a Natural Kingdom written and illustrated by Lita Judge.

Each beautiful spread, with carefully detailed illustrations, contains a poem about trees on the left side, and information about tree communities' ability to communicate, warn, and protect each other on the right. An author's note tells how this fascination for trees took root, and back matter fills in more details about tree communities. 

Scientists have learned a lot about tree behavior recently, and it is amazing! For example, in "Neighbor, Can You Hear Me?" the poem is a tree calling out to its neighbors. The factual information tells us that when insects attack a tree, the tree sends electrical signals through the fungi living among the tree's roots. When other trees receive the warning, they "pump a bitter-tasting chemical called tannin into their leaves to ward off the insects" (p. 11). 

Enjoy this short video about how the book was made and see its beauty for yourself.

Through the seasons and around the world, Judge shows and tells us how trees take care of each other. We could learn a lot from trees!

          See more about Lita Judge's award-winning books here.  

 

 

 

The Promise of Trees

The Promise is an amazing first-person fable by nature writer Nicola Davies about the importance of keeping a promise and how having a positive purpose can change one's life. The illustrations by Laura Carlin enhance the text, as they change from black and white to color as the main character's promise is fulfilled. Change does not happen overnight; patience is required. The underlying message of "if you don't like it, change it" empowers readers of all ages, and encourages all of us to leave a positive legacy. 

My favorite line from the book: "I held a forest in my arms, and my heart was changed." 

This picture book will be most appreciated by older children through adults. In fact, it is on the reading list for my church women's reading program in the Social Action category.

(photo taken at McCrory Gardens in Brookings, SD)

This tale of hope and environmentalism was inspired by Jean Giono's 1953 story, L’homme qui plantait des arbres, (The Man Who Planted Trees.)  I don't read French, but I have seen the video and recommend it to you. 

National Poetry Month--Spring Willows

(© Copyright Rod Allday and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence, http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1754484)

Spring Willows

Willows shrug off winter
and don yellow just before
springing into a green canopy
over daffodil leaves
shooting through the ground
and weeks ahead of
cottonwood and ash
that still look dead.
Their bare boughs long for
lush willow green
in early spring.
--copyright Jane Heitman Healy, 2013

(photo by doviende Pete, Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/doviende/82719704/)


Where I live, we are still teeter-tottering between winter and spring, though our snow is almost all gone. It's so hopeful to see the willows turn from brown to yellow--new life stirring--and then burst into green well before the other deciduous trees. That's where we are, folks, waiting for green. Here's to spring and to National Poetry Month!

(photo by Neil Turner, Creative Commons, http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilt/4736647/)

Fairy Tales Fire the Imagination

Our imaginations are running rampant this weekend with Halloween, All Saints, and Dia de los Muertos celebrations.

A recent solo fall hike turned my imagination to fairy tales. The best known fairy tales and folk tales began as stories told hundreds of years ago and retold to each new generation. Many fairy tales, especially the ones from Europe, take place in a forest. Maybe Hansel and Gretel dropped bread crumbs in a place like this:

Will the Billy Goats Gruff's troll give me passage across this bridge?

Does a gingerbread house or big bad wolf lurk around this corner?

Is that La Llorona I hear weeping?

The Wizard of Oz is not a true fairy tale; still these trees remind me of the scene where Dorothy and her friends were attacked by the enchanted apple trees:

(Here's the scene, in case you forgot:)

Fairy tales hold some universal appeal to us as human beings in a world we can't control or fully understand. What is your favorite fairy tale or folk tale?

For more on fairy tales, see SurLaLune, the fairy tale website and my book, Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tales in the Library and Language Arts (or see my blog sidebar).

Arbor Day--National Poetry Month

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laserstars/ / CC BY 2.0

It's Arbor Day and the last day of National Poetry Month, so what better way to celebrate than with a few tree poems? I'm guessing more than a few of us memorized Joyce Kilmer's famous "Trees" in grade school. How much of it can you still recite without peeking?

Trees

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

You may also remember "Woodman, Spare that Tree" by George Pope Morris. Here's a Phil Harris rendition on the gramophone:


Modern poets also write of trees. Kids' favorite, Douglas Florian, has a new book book out called Poetrees. Take a look at the poems and art here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckaysavage/ / CC BY 2.0

Poet and naturalist Wendell Berry writes "For the Future". What trees--literal or figurative--are you planting for the future?

Happy Arbor Day! So long, National Poetry Month!

Bending Over Backwards

Trees grow and endure under all kinds of conditions. Sometimes harsh conditions or difficulties cause trees to take more interesting shapes than their unstressed counterparts. The same can be true for people. Unlike trees, we have a choice in the way we respond to troubles. Living through difficulties can make us stronger, more compassionate, and more human. Choosing bitterness and vengeance does not enrich us.

I call this photo, taken at nearby Beaver Creek Nature Area, "Bending Over Backwards." What titles would you give it?