Little Tree and the Wood Wide Web - Lucy Brownridge - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Lucy Brownridge

ILLUSTRATOR: Hannah Abbo

GENRE: Children's Nonfiction, Nature.

RATING: 4.25 stars

In a Nutshell: A nice story highlighting how trees communicate through an underground network.

Story Synopsis:

In an ancient forest, a little Douglas fir is trying to grow up but her progress is quite slow as she is surrounded by giant trees and gets little water. When the little tree’s sadness leaves through her roots, the underground fungal network that interconnects the roots of all the trees in the forest spread an SOS alert: ‘Little Tree needs help.’ A paper birch who grows next to a stream responds immediately, sending sugars through her roots to the Douglas fir, who benefits from this act of generosity. The little fir wants to repay the paper birch, and soon, she gets a chance to do so.

I had been aware of the mycorrhizal network connecting tree roots and fungi in a complex subterranean network of communication, thanks to Peter Wohlleben’s ‘The Hidden Life of Trees’. As such, the content of this book was no surprise to me. But I am sure kids will find this information mindboggling. The idea that trees can communicate with each other and even assist each other when needed can make us look at them in a whole new way. Such books are perfect in demonstrating how trees also have awareness.

There are plenty of things to recommend this book:

🌳 The lovely story about the two trees.

🌳 The scientific information about the Wood Wide Web presented in simple terms.

🌳 The message about helping those in need and also about being grateful for favours received and returning the favour when we can.

🌳 The detailed glossary that provides a simple meaning of all the difficult tree-related terms in the book.

🌳 The final note that highlights Professor Suzanne Simard’s discovery of the arboreal WWW.

Of course, the Wood Wide Web as demonstrated in this book is at a very simplistic level as it covers only the communicated need for help and not the other kinds of communication trees indulge in such as alerting each other about dangers. But it should serve the right reading group well, and in a way that they might get encouraged to explore more about tree talks.

The colour pencil illustrations are sweet and work well for the story, but a part of me found the effect of the illustrations quite subdued. I want more vibrant colours.

In short, little nature lovers are sure to find this book a delight. Definitely recommended to classrooms as it offers several learning opportunities. The target age group is 3-7 years.

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley for the DRC of “Little Tree and the Wood Wide Web”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.