Teaching the Trees Lessons from the Forest by Joan Maloof

A book that will present you a lot of enchantment with its poetry, with its wonderful vision of trees and nature is: Teaching the Trees Lessons from the Forest  by Joan Maloof published by The University of Georgia Press. Trust me when I tell you that this book will change your relationship with nature and environment making the difference in your existence.
Our life sometimes is disconnected and we can't feel nature in particular if we live in cities because maybe it's not too close to us. This book will help you to firstly re-connect yourself with nature and maybe to decide of spending some more time outdoor. 

This inspiring book is a discovery. First of all, I can assure you that it is extremely poetic. The author inserts in every chapter some poems of her beloved poets.
The main purpose of Maloff is this one: enter into the essence of trees and our relationship with them.
The purpose of the book is this one mainly. Illustrations are old-fashioned: they were created by John Abbott a naturalist who lived more than 200 years ago for giving to the book a precious touch. The cover is precious.

What is it a tree to us?

If you don't know the importance of trees, if you think that a tree is "just there" but you don't give to it all that importance remember that without trees we wouldn't have oxygen; remember that a tree is important for an entire little and big eco-system, starting from birds, and passing through all that little animals that you can't see immediately but that love to spend time in its branches or other part of it; remember that a tree is  like a person. It has a beginning but also an end and like a person needs to be treated with extreme dignity.

Have you ever hugged a tree? Personally I did it several times, but...Did you remember when did it happen? Was it for a special occasion?
For thanking your tree of being there, for being grateful, for relaxing your mind embracing another living creature?
Hugging a tree is a great lesson, as also will explain the author, who loves to bring all her students to the forest for hugging trees and discovering the joy of being outside.

This book is written with enchanted eyes: and once you will finish to read it you will want to rush in a forest for staying there forever, trust me because forests are plenty of good oxygen for our health and our lungs! created thanks to the mixture of many elements, creatures and substances, leaves, fungi, etc of the forest. I don't know you, but when I enter in a forest when I return in the normal world I am more oxygenated and alive!

We will also discover the beauty of various trees. I know some for reputation like the Sycamore where you could also think of living in, because it's very big!

You'll understand that close to oak trees, blessed by Druids like lime, walnut, holly ones as well, maybe will live owls and squirrels although squirrels tend to choose oak trees with their favorite acorns. We will learn that trees sometimes have a specific genre, they can be female or males, that in general a tree would live 200-300 years if not killed before by the hands of man.

Joan Maloof created also a September 11th Memorial Forest, for remembering all the people deceased during that horrible terrorist attack. A way this one for honoring the people disappeared picking up a tree for each person. New life metaphorically for all that people not anymore physically existing through these protected trees. They will grow up every year and this time one no one will kill them.

Plus: did you know that eagles sometimes can nest in a big and very tall pine and if they love the experience return the next year in that same place?

This book is a wonderful naturalistic experience for everyone!




I thank so much The University of Georgia Press for the physical copy of this beautiful book!



Anna Maria Polidori