Book Review: Around the World in 80 Trees by Jonathan Drori

Around the World in 80 Trees
by Jonathan Drori
Illustrations by Lucille Clerc

A botanical journey filled with science, history, and wonder.
--from the back cover

I spotted this book while browsing in the Cincinnati Joseph-Beth bookstore last December.  I was immediately drawn to it due to Lucille Clerc's gorgeous cover illustration and started flipping through it.  I immediately knew that I wanted to buy it, but realized that I should wait until I had a discount to employ that would take a bit off the price, so I wanted until a few days into January before I bought it.

In Around the World in 80 Trees, expert Jonathan Drori uses plant science to illuminate how trees play a role in every part of human life, from the romantic to the regrettable. Stops on the trip include the lime trees of Berlin’s Unter den Linden boulevard, which intoxicate amorous Germans and hungry bees alike, the swankiest streets in nineteenth-century London, which were paved with Australian eucalyptus wood, and the redwood forests of California, where the secret to the trees’ soaring heights can be found in the properties of the tiniest drops of water.
--from publisher Laurence King's website

I started reading the book as soon as I got home after purchasing it, but I made sure to take my time.  Think of the book as 80 separate vignettes.  Each tree is covered in a different entry, separated geographically.  It starts in Europe, progresses through Africa and Asia, and then across the Pacific to the Americas where it ends in North America.  Some trees are covered in their land of origin while others are covered in places where they have been transplanted and are now popular.  Each tree has 1-2 pages of text and illustrations, so don't expect a connected narrative.  You can read the book from cover to cover starting at the beginning as I did, or you can browse through and just read sections in any order you desire without loosing anything.  I took about two months to finish the book because I didn't want to get through it too quickly.

In this two-page spread on the Paper Mulberry you can see what some of the smaller sections look like.  The text is always at least this long and covers the current distribution of the tree and what it is used for.  The gorgeous illustrations usually show some of the full tree as well as various elements like flowers, fruit, and leaves.

Some sections are longer such as this two-page text spread on the cork trees of Portugal.

The two pages of text are accompanied by a two-page spread of illustrations.

Page after page of simply beautiful illustrations make this book a joy to peruse.  I look forward to using it with the kids when they are older and we need to learn about different trees.  Obviously it isn't an exhaustive exploration of all trees, but it does a good job of covering its selection.

Detail from Chinese lacquer tree illustration.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Summary: A gorgeously illustrated ode to 80 different trees from around the world, covering the distribution, usage, and history of each species included.
Technical: Hardcover with dust jacket, 240 pages.  Includes index and selected bibliography.  No end notes.

~Matt