Customer Reviews

The Natural History of the Oak Tree: An Intricate Visual Exploration of the Oak and Its Environment

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This is a fantastic reference for anyone interested in oaks, especially the deciduous oaks, as a deciduous oak is featured in the book. Although written in the U.K., the representative oak in this book looks almost identical to the U.S.'s eastern White Oak (quercus alba) or California White Oak/Valley Oak (quercus lobata).

The illustrations are full-color and painstakingly precise -- a pleasure to look at! You could learn a great deal this way even if you didn't know how to read. Of course, reading is a pleasure too, especially since the book is so well-organized.

The various chapters deal with how an acorn grows into an oak; an oak tree in the 4 seasons; common animals (insects, birds, invertibrates, mammals) found in and around oaks, various plants and fungi found in and around oaks, etc. I learn something new each time I browse through.

Yes, I am an oak-nut, as if you couldn't tell. :) If you are too, I wholeheartedly recommend this book! You will truly love it.

My two year old likes this book much more than I do. That is not all a bad thing, but not quite what I was expecting when I bought it. Basically this book is picture book of critters, bugs, and plants that grow in and around an oak tree... in England. For an American, some of the information will not pertain. The drawings are nice, but each entry could use more scientific information. What does this eat? Does it harm the tree? Etc. It took me about an hour to get through the book, now it lays in my living room where my son grabs it, takes it to me and shows me the bugs and squirrels.