Trees: a Guide to Familiar American Trees (Golden Guides) [Paperback]

This book is great for people who want to learn the basics of different trees, their leaves, their twigs and bark of the trees around their area. If you don't know if the tree grows in your area, you can look at the maps in the book to see if it does. If you like trees and want to learn about them, you'll love this book. I loved this book because it built my foundation for knowledge in trees and their different families.

When I was a kid, me and my grandfather (or Papaw as everybody calls him since we're from the South) loved to go walking in the woods. Unlike most people, we were more interested in checking out the trees than looking close for deer and rabbits. Being a curious little boy, I would ask him, "What kind of tree is this?" I don't know how he knew, but he was always right.

I got an earlier version of this book as a present and loved it! It was perfect with its easy reading and nice illustrations for anyone of any age. Most trees in the book are done like this: One page is devoted to them. Let's say you're looking at Mockernut Hickory. The top half of the page shows an illustration (there are no real photographs in the book) of the tree's leaves and fruits close up, along with a distant illustration of the tree in a scenic location. The bottom half of the page contains a paragraph that goes into more detail about the particular type of tree, such as describing its bark, where it grows, or maybe even a short history on the tree. Did you know that the pecan tree is a southern hickory that has transformed into a national symbol pretty much? It didn't even grow here in Alabama naturally, and now, due to widespread planting over the years, it's seen everywhere around here! Finally, at the bottom-right, we have a map of the United States. The parts that are shaded in are where the tree grows in its natural habitat. Oh, wait! It also tells how tall each tree gets and what family it's in (Beech family, Maple family, etc.)

That's a lot of detail for just one little page! But it never appears jumbled. There's a nice section at the beginning of the book that gives you an overview of trees in general, such as how wood forms, broadleaf trees and conifers, types of forests, and much more. Finally, it has a few pages where it groups major types of trees (Oaks, Maples, etc.) together and gives an overview of them, but it still has a page devoted to each separate kind (Water Oak, Southern Red Oak, Blackjack Oak, and so on). My only complaint whatsoever is that it doesn't show a close up of each tree's bark.

I used to look at this book and read it all the time out of pure interest, but there was an unexpected surprise as well. While my Papaw would simply say that one tree was "a hickory", I could outdo him and teach HIM that it was a SHAGBARK hickory. That is, until he got into this book as well. It really does have pretty much all the kinds of trees that you'll see in the United States, everything you know by heart like pines and oaks, to the more obscure, such as redbud, sycamore, honeylocust, and sassafras.

I lost that "earlier version" of this book years ago, but I recently purchased this revised copy as soon as I laid eyes on it and recognized it. Perhaps I lost it because I used to carry it with me nearly everywhere I went, and you probably will too. This book is about the size of a checkbook and it literally fits in your back pocket. Do you or someone you know enjoy walking in the woods or through trails checking out trees and identifying them? If so, this is the perfect beginning guide toward increasing your knowledge of these tall creatures in the world around you.

I love this little book. I've carried it on many hikes, dog walks, and through several years of walking to graduate school. It's easy to use, detailed enough to be helpful, and small enough (my aged copy, at any rate) to fit in your back pocket. Of all of the field guides that I own, I've used this one the most.