Week 11 Prompt
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
1. Where is the book on the narrative continuum?
A mix (combines highly narrative moments with periods of fact-based prose)
2. What is the subject of the book?
Trees and how they communicate, feel, and live their lives.
3. What type of book is it?
A non-fiction work of science.
4. Articulate appeal
-What is the pacing of the book?
The pace is leisurely, but it does read quickly.
-Describe the characters of the book.
This is not a character driven work. The main subjects of this book are the trees and forests the author discusses. The author does anthropomorphize the trees so they could be characters of a sort. He also features himself in some areas of the book.
-How does the story feel?
It feels upbeat and uplifting.
-What is the intent of the author?
To give readers a glimpse into the mysterious world of trees and to ensure a reader never looks the same way at trees again.
-What is the focus of the story?
The focus of the story is how trees communicate with one another and how they get by in their daily lives.
-Does the language matter?
Yes, the author made this very accessible so even someone with little biological knowledge could grasp the concepts.
-Is the setting important and well described?
The settings are important because the main subjects of this title, the trees, are in the forests. When reading this book, I felt as though I was transported to forests around the globe and was able to picture them in my mind's eye.
-Are there details and, if so, of what?
Tons of details are in this book about trees, fungi, insects, animals, and other things in nature.
-Are there sufficient charts and other graphic materials? Are they useful and clear?
There are a few images of trees in the book, but there are no charts or other graphic material (at least in the ebook format). The few images that there are in the book are pretty, but not very useful beyond identifying what the tree looks like.
-Does the book stress moments of learning, understanding, or experience?
Yes, all three do apply. In this book you will learn about trees and other aspects of nature, an understanding of what is really going on in your nearby woods, and gives you can experience of what it is like in forests around the world.
5. Why would a reader enjoy this book (rank appeal)?
1. Tone 2. Experience/Learning 3. Language
Hi Darla,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your post! This book sounds very interesting, and it's neat to see the different appeal factors for non-fiction. Your post makes me want to read this book! I never would have thought that trees could be characters, but that just makes me even more excited to read it. Does the author involve any conservation-minded aspects of the book or discuss the problem of deforestation? Just curious.
Also, what is the title and author of the work you assessed? I'd love to add it to my TBR.
-Daniel Thurston
Hi Daniel!
DeletePutting the title in would be helpful (duh! lol). It's called The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. I read it for my non-fiction annotation and I am so glad that I did! There is a lot of talk about conservation among ancient forests and why we should be protecting and growing large forests that connect all around the globe. The author actually used to work in the forestry industry so he has a really interesting perspective. Definitely worth the read!
Darla,
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds so interesting. I like how you said readers will never look at trees the same way again. Trees are one of those things that people probably don't give much thought to on a daily basis, but I bet after reading this book, they think about them a lot more. What age range do you think this would work for? Just adults, or maybe teens who are interested in trees, forests, conservation, etc...? I'm not sure how technical the author gets in his descriptions.
Also, unrelated, but the title of this book makes me think of the tree characters in the Lord of the Rings movies. I'm not a huge Lord of the Rings fan, but I remember the walking, talking tree creature scenes well. I just googled them to remember what they are called: ents. :)
Sara,
DeleteI think that a teen who has had a biology class would grasp it really well. I am not well versed in biology by any means but I was able to understand his explanations with little background in it.
And yes!! The ents!! That was my thought as well. I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan (recently purchased a cheap replica of Aragorn's sword for no good reason) and when I was reading this book I totally pictured my own trees turning into ents and going off to battle haha.
Darla,
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting how the author explains how trees are apart of the social network. I do know a few patrons who would enjoy this book and reading about nature. It is good to know a person who does not know anything about trees or nature in general could pick up this title and grasp the knowledge within it. Does the book detail information about the variety of trees? If so, someone wanting to learn about the trees in their community or neighborhood could understand how to take care of them.
Candace,
ReplyDeleteYes, there is information on a variety of trees. The author really gives each type of tree their own personality, but a lot of the focus is on the forests as a whole. It was a fun read!
Great job filling out the matrix! Full points!
ReplyDelete