Arbor Day seems like a good day to share a tree identification book with you that we love!
Published by the Arbor Day Foundation, What Tree Is That? offers a step-by-step question approach to identifying common North American trees. It reminds me of those Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books I read when I was young!
As you answer questions about your tree’s leaf shape and size, bark, size, etc., you continue to move through the book until your tree is identified. The illustrations are detailed and realistic and we are learning all sorts of new vocabulary like petiole (the leafstalk that connects the blade to the twig). The cover of the book is a fold-out panel with a glossary of important words.
If you or your kids are interested in learning the names of trees in your area, I highly recommend this book! You can see sample pages on the Arbor Day Foundation website. They also have a “What Tree Is That” animation to learn the basics of tree identification and an online version of the book, too. Great resources!
We’ll be out admiring the trees around us today, and hopefully learning a few of their names, too!
Are you celebrating trees today?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
My son and I go out all the time and touch trees and feel them, he is not old enough to start identifying yet but it is on our radar. This book will be on my wish list now.
Please check out the blog I maintain at http://www.kidsmatter1.blogspot.com. Thanks and I find your blog to be a huge resource for us.
That kind of identification strategy is called a dichotomous key, and they are awesome! There are dichotomous keys for pretty much every type of biological organism. Answering all of the little questions and turning to the assigned page really is fun!! I hadn’t thought of Choose Your Own Adventure books until you mentioned them, but that IS exactly what they’re like!!