Trees of New England Book Review by ChristineMM

Title:  Trees of New England A Natural History
Author: Charles Fergus

ISBN: 0762737956



My Star Rating: 4 stars out of 5 = I Like It

Summary Statement: Enjoy the Interesting Text but Wish It Had More Illustrations



This book is an interesting read; it’s not a field guide. General facts are told about the trees and sometimes personal observations or stories.



Each tree has a map showing the region it grows in and one or two hand drawn black line illustrations per species. There are not enough illustrations nor are they consistent enough to double as a field guide. For example some illustrations show the full tree giving us a sense of the shape while others show just the leaf and other times, the bark. I wish each of these types of visuals was included for every tree.



If you are interested in medicinal uses or practical uses for the trees (i.e. which are good for home heat burning or which are used for making wood furniture and so forth, only some trees have that information. Sometimes how the tree was used by Native Americans is included.



If you want to know more about trees than a regular field guide teaches you and you are interested in trees of New England you’ll want to read this book. Anyone who can’t get enough information about trees would feel this is necessary for their library.



I’m rating this 4 stars = I Like It because the text is interesting and provides details that I have not found in other books. The reason I’m not giving it 5 stars = I Love It, is I wish it had more illustrations showing the full tree shape, the leaf, the bark and the fruit or nut if applicable.


Disclosure: I borrowed this book from a library. For my blog’s full disclosure statement see the link at the top of my blog’s sidebar.