Book Review: The Sibley Guide to Trees

 

  The Sibley Guide to Trees

I previously discussed David Sibley’s book, The Sibley Guide to Birds, which is my favorite birding book of all time.  David Sibley put his skills of observation, painting, and teaching back to work to develop The Sibley Guide to Trees.  I believe this book will be the mainstay of tree guides for a long time.

What I liked so much about his bird guide book is that Sibley is able to find the one or two things that make one species unique from all other similar species.  I have found some trees to be much more difficult to identify than birds, because some species are so similar and trees can change form to some degree based upon the conditions (or teroir) they are grown.  Sibley beautifully cuts through this confusion and gives us key points to find to identify each tree.  Also, Sibley does not just include the common trees of North America, but he includes the uncommon and introduced species as well.

I am thrilled to share this book on my blog.  I have waited a long time for a tree guide that is easy to use, reliable, inclusive, but most importantly, I wanted a tree guide that works.  I believe this is it.  I highly recommend this book!

Here are a few great videos of the author explaining his book.  I love the second interview... he is a genius!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ0Y8t99ozI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX-LSTGAOPc