Do Trees Have Mothers?

Book excerpt: A wonder-filled picture book inspired by the science of trees. With whimsical art and gentle text, Do Trees Have Mothers? translates scientific knowledge about the kinship structures of the forest into a beautiful and affirming story about how trees nurture the young. Discover all the ways in which a mother tree protects and nourishes the baby trees of the forest understory, and show young children what it means to care for a community, and for our environment and the earth. Did you know that mother trees help seedlings survive by transferring carbon and nitrogen through the mycorrhizal network? They can even warn baby trees when there are troublesome bugs about! Drawing from scientific research, Do Trees Have Mothers? is The Hidden Life of Trees (Greystone, 2016) and Finding the Mother Tree (Penguin Random House, 2021) for the preschool set. The perfect book for budding nature lovers, this book introduces the forest’s complex and fascinating wonders in a friendly and age-appropriate way.