Customer Reviews

Tree of Life

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Although this book targets elementary school libraries, adults of all ages and persuasions will find it riveting. Tree of Life recounts Darwin's childhood from two points of view: his own and his father's. Terrific art work of various media take readers from the naturalist's youth to his long years of travel aboard the Beagle, where his then revolutionary ideas about the origin of species took root. He knew early on that publication of his theories would create a maelstrom. The unique pictorial presentation of this material is nearly as revolutionary as Darwin's thought processes. Though chronologically linear, it feels bold and sweeping in the process of presenting so much information in so small a space. It's a spectacular, visually exciting intro to Darwin's ideas of the natural world. You feel as though you're inside the great man's brain.

Naturalist student Charles Darwin spent five-years exploring remote locales in the Pacific as part of the voyage of the Beagle. Darwin kept detailed notes that documented all he saw. However, though his writings about the trek are incredible in scope, no drawings accompanied Darwin's wealth of material. Peter Sis fills the void by providing a stunning pictorial of Darwin's diary, journal, and other writings that will leave the audience in awe while taking hours to look at one overwhelmingly detailed page at a time.

This reviewer and her spouse spent an hour a day over the past few weeks fascinated by this tribute. Though intended for the elementary school crowd readers of all ages will appreciate THE TREE OF LIFE: CHARLES DARWIN as a powerful introduction to one of the most influential individuals of the last two centuries. This tome makes the perfect family gathering as adults and children can share the fascination as Mr. Sis shows a picture is worth a thousand words (and $18.00).

Harriet Klausner

If you are at all familiar with Peter Sis, then you linger under the incorrect impression that you know what to expect from him. Carefully researched subjects. Illustrations containing infinitesimally small people, places, and things. Engaging and entertaining plots. I tell you now, ladies and gents, "Tree of Life" takes all of this and multiplies it. Quadruples it. You have never seen a picture book like this before. When you are dealing with a book that cares to discuss the origins of life itself, you need an author/illustrator comfortable with details. In this, Sis is your man.

This is a summarization and encapsulation of the life of Mr. Charles Robert Darwin. The book begins like so:

"Charles Darwin opens his eyes for the first time! He has no idea that he will (a) start a revolution when he grows up, (b) sail around the world on a five-year voyage, (c) spend many years studying nature, and (d) write a book that will change the world".

From here on in we watch Darwin learn and grow. The text is separated, initially, into two parts. One portion is in bold and discusses the facts of Darwin's life. An italicized portion below this talks about Charles's passions and desires. Up above we see little images and factoids strewn about the page willy-nilly, giving us a better sense of the times and people involved in the naturalist's life. This form and style goes out the window when Darwin joins up with the Beagle. Suddenly the pages become drawings of creatures and sights. There is a magnificent two-page spread of boxes, each one carrying an interesting fact, animal, moment, or image that Darwin encountered. It's as if his very experiences have been cataloged for the reader's viewing pleasure. Eventually Darwin returns and as he does so the pages themselves return to the previous layout. Now, however, Darwin's life has been divided into three different parts. He has a public life, a private life, and a secret (read evolutionary) life. Every individual life is outlined on each page and as we read on we understand how a single person's dreams can be affected by their personal and private triumphs and catastrophies. When, "On the Origin of the Species" is published we find a full pull-out four page spread encompassing the enormity of this publication. Images on the pages become less straightforward and more dreamlike. At long last, accompanying a vision of a solitary Magritte-like Darwin surrounded by a clan of death's head hawk moths are the words, "Charles Darwin died on April 19, 1882, and was buried in Westminster Abbey".

According to the book's author/illustrator, Darwin was, himself, unable to draw. So rather than sketch the wonders he saw while on the Beagle, the naturalist would describe his visions with great detail. In this way, Sis has become Darwin's right hand. It is impossible to flip through this book and not be amazed at the intricacy of the project. Sis is almost a pointillist at times, his Seurat-like dots forming everything from the galleys of a ship to thousands of tiny houses in London. A child reading this book could pore over a single page for hours, interpreting and reinterpreting each digression and off-hand comment. Honestly, you've never seen a book like this one before. The image that stands out most prominently in my mind is that of Darwin astride a giant rock dove that is made up of a thousand domesticated descendents.

Which brings us to the idea of a children's book concerned with evolution in the first place. "The Tree of Life" is hardly alone in this respect. For example, the ambitious "Our Family Tree" by Lisa Westberg Peters is far more direct in voicing the facts of evolution than this book in many respects. Here, Sis seems to avoid controversy as much as possible. The spread that describes every chapter and thought that went into the making of "On the Origin of the Species" is accompanied by the caveat, "Darwin did not say that God had not created life on earth. What he said was that creation did not happen all at once". Take that. Some time is spent examining the Bishop Samuel Wilberforce's objections and the Great Oxford Debate of 1860, but it is given far less time or energy than the book's page on, say, the Galapagos Islands. I would have liked some explanations on why some people didn't (and still do not) like Darwin's theories. Even a cursory explanation of the opposition wouldn't have been inappropriate considering the subject matter. Alas, here Sis is lacking.

All this notwithstanding, this is a fine piece of kiddie lit. If you remain unconvinced and require just a little more information about this book's fine nature, I merely direct you to the endpapers. In most picture books, the endpapers in the front of the book match and duplicate the endpapers at the back. Yet even here, Sis has not skimped. From the evolving feet of horses to the hand of Michaelangelo's God reaching towards Adam's, these pages are all individual and unique, making them just as important as any other portion of the book. I shudder to think what will happen to them when this book comes out in paperback. Though some will argue that this book is too advanced for children, challenge this statement. Test it for yourself. Any child that likes detail, precision, and nature will at least enjoy portions of this book. In a word - fabulous.

Tree Of Life is the complex biography of Charles Darwin will reach ages 8 and up: those with good reading skills attracted to pictures. From views of Darwin as a schoolboy to reviews of his naturalist theories, this uses many intricate drawings to cover Darwin's achievements - no bright colors here, just facts and images paired with solid text.

This is a wonderful book. Great illustrations with much detail about Darwin's life (all of it, family, career, adventures) including "pages" from his diary. I bought it for my son who really liked it. We read it together the first time, then he explored it on his own. He used it for a 4th grade school project and got an A. I enjoyed it, too.

This is a beautiful book! It gives you a vivid picture of Charles Darwin's life. Very enjoyable -- my son and I both got to know Darwin well from this book! I'm inspired to read all those books Darwin wrote.

Though I liked the book very much and enjoyed reading all of the facts about Charles Darwin, I think that the format was BUSY. All over each page there were illustrations and little facts of interest. I wanted to read them all... and did! But, I prefer a more straight forward format.

I got a series of Peter Sis books as a reference for a children's picture book for a school assignment. This book is not only for children. It's for everyone. Each day I look at it you discover something new. The visual style and artwork helps to get into the book, both for its sheer amount of detail, surreal imagery, and deep thought involved into it.

I must say, this should be a definitive buy. It's timeless, down to earth, and more importantly INSPIRING!

Long live Charles Darwin!

Purchased this book for my four year old granddaughter. When we started to read it she announced that she thought it was too old for her. Then we got to the pages of drawings and she was completely fascinated.

This is a children's book that adults can also enjoy.

This was a delightful read. The illustrations are simple, but evocative and enjoyable. They are exactly what is needed for the text. More than any other book I've read, this introduces the young adult reader to who Darwin was as a person. While it is perfect for the inquisitive child of ages 10-13, there's a lot here for the inquisitive child of all ages. Sis shows us the progression of Darwin's thoughts and understanding through Darwin's own words. I had no idea how seriously Darwin took the subjugation of 2/3rds World peoples by Europeans, and how deeply he felt that pain. While I am following along with Darwin's growing understanding of the evolution of fauna and the imperialism of Britain, I completely missed until the end that Darwin was also observing the human animals, and looking at the spread of various cultures as another nail in the edifice of his developing theory on the origin of species.

This is a great book to introduce younger audiences to the father of modern biology, the man who had perhaps the greatest scientific breakthrough in history, and who changed our understanding of all of life. Tree of Life lets us into the inner sanctum, to understand the development from observation to hypothesis to theory, as Darwin himself saw it.