The Language of Trees is a publication by Katie Holten, in which she introduces readers to her Tree Alphabet and to a series of reflections on trees from a variety of authors. I got this as an e-ARC from NetGalley, and so was unable to really see the illustrations or the Tree Alphabet. As a result, I can't really speak to that part of this book. I did, however, really enjoy the reflections on trees. I am a big tree fan and I loved the collection of essays, poetry, and other pieces of work about trees. Even without the artwork, I enjoyed this a lot, so I imagine the finished version is just lovely.

Thanks so much to Katie Holten and Elliott & Thompson for this ARC!

Wonderful and informative book. I really enjoyed reading this one. It was well written, I thought there was a lot of good information on the language of trees.

The beauty of trees
The book is an eclectic collection of beautiful passages, extracts and verses about trees which I thoroughly enjoyed.

It also includes lots of references to follow up and dive into if you want to.

I was given this book from the author via netgalley only for the pleasure of reading and leaving an honest review should I choose to.

The book offers a variety of literary works dedicated to trees. Some parts were really interesting and other parts I didn’t really enjoy reading. Overall, it wasn’t right book to read.

Just a wonderful collection of letters, poems and illustrations about the "lung" of our planet. Trees are our fundamental "breather" and this is an hommage to this beautiful wise giants. Thank you.

Loved the concept in creating a language using trees; the illustrations within are gorgeous and worth flipping through the pages alone. Loved the collected works. Overall a wonderful immersive work for anyone interested in biophilia/nature.

Getting to read this book is a treat. It offers poems, excerpts, thoughts, moments of human interacting, reacting to trees.

It is a book that inspires, that can offer a thought, an idea, a moment of relaxation and touching down with nature in the form of tree / trees.

Katie Holten has done an amazing job in bringing all these various voices together in one book, reflecting on what trees mean to us humans and what we might mean to them.

I discovered many new facets about trees, their imagination and their impact and communication with the human world.

The constant translation from readable text to text spelled in tree alphabet adds an interesting additional layer to this book.

What I now would like to see are books that do something similar but originate from different regions of our planet, as one voice is simply not enough to cover a topic such as trees and their representation in poems, songs, nonfiction.

I received this book first as an eARC from the publisher of the UK edition via Netgalley, then also got hold of the physical book. It is a carefully, beautifully produced book. One caveat I have to make though, for anyone with needing black lettering inside due to issues with eyesight, this book is throughout lettered in green and even for me, it took me a moment to get used to it.

What I appreciate very much as well is the extensive and inclusive bibliography at the end of the book. It offers ample ideas for further dipping into the parts that are of interest to oneself.

And then, there is the tree alphabet that can be downloaded as a font and text can be spelled with the tree alphabet, something that might be worthwhile to explore as it opens a different view onto the world and us as humans within it.

There is no other way of saying this, but I simply did not like reading this book. On top of the very poor structure of the galley which made it impossible to read, this book is not what I was expecting. I adore books about trees - i'm a bit weird like that - but I could not read this one. so sad.

Beautifully illustrated and written in the secret alphabet called Trees (a font created by the illustrator of this book, Katie Holten, inspired by the medieval Ogham, Ireland’s Tree Alphabet) and!!! printed in velvety and superb deep green ink, *The Language of Trees* is a “*love letter to our vanishing world*”, a collection of stories, musings, songs, recipes, sentences, poems and thoughts related to trees and their role in Nature and our lives.

This anthology contains works by famous activists and authors, it spans space and time (it goas as far back as including Plato), and is perfect for a sporadic reading rather than one done in a rush: the texts are short and easily digestible, but still impactful, and they lend themselves to an exercise in recollection.

It’s divided in different sections, each related to different parts of a tree, or the relationship the trees have with the outside world of their forest, and the texts contained reflect that.

It’s a very pretty book, but I found that it doesn’t really give its all in the digital format: it’s a bit difficult to read and the font Trees, when used for full texts, is all mashed together (it gives a natural rendition of a forest, but it’s pretty illegible). I’m sure that in print format it’s a wonderful book to leaf through (see what I did there?), I might consider getting a copy even just so I can display it and look at it with leisure.

Overall a nice read, with authors and personalities whose work I discovered now that I would like to explore and research more.

“*I offer The Language of Trees as a celebration of trees and our entangled relationship with them. I hope this book inspires us to consider how our human nature might re-merge with the state of nature. The book is also a call to action. An ecological civilization based on Rights of Nature is a survival imperative. Please join me in declaring emergency and advocating for the Rights of Nature, the Rights of Trees, Forests, Peatlands, Rivers, and Planet Earth*.”

Access to the ARC acquired thanks to NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book*

While I enjoyed the majority of "The Language of Trees", I found it a bit overwhelming and the content sometimes too diverse and decontextualised to be thoroughly enjoyable and/or impactful. It was all a bit much and while the design was wonderful, reading it via the Netgalley App did not work at all, it was really tiny and chaotic.

Overall a good book though!

3 stars

Trees are fascinating and somehow we know a lot about the biology but not so much about them in general.
This is a good book, informative and well written.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

If you’re looking for a love letter to trees and the ways in which they shape our world, look no further than The Language of Trees by Katie Holten. This book is one part Holten’s own tree-designed alphabet, one part art, and one part anthology of tree-related texts. Like any good collection, the contents span a variety of tastes, and I think that there is something for everyone to find in here from poems to philosophy to science to news reports to reflections to a call to action. The love of trees and their place in this world and the need for us to respect them more is present in every letter inked on the page. Each text entry is sandwiched between beautiful art and interspersed with quotes and short poems in Holten’s tree-style alphabet.

I liked that the texts in this collection were fairly short; it made it easy to pick up and put this book down as I was able to. The artwork included is soft but gorgeous, and I think it’s best read over the course of several days or weeks rather than one sitting. Many of the pieces are reflective in a way that reminds me of coffee table books. There were some texts included that felt too over my head in terms of the science, but, like I mentioned earlier, this collection has something for everyone. Even if I wasn’t a fan of some of the selections, they did represent a wide variety of tree-loving voices, and I know there’s a reader who will love its inclusion.

Overall, this book, while not something I might normally pick up, was a good one. I’d recommend it for readers who are interested in the environment, who love trees, or who are looking for something thoughtful.

Thank you Elliott & Thompson and Netgalley for the free advanced reader copy! Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This book is a collection of writings about trees. It includes some very well known writers to some that were completely new to me. There is factual pieces, recipes, poems and stories. It took me a little while to get into as it felt a little disjointed at times, however as I got further into the book I appreciated the diversity of writing styles. Trees are often an overlooked everyday thing and yet there is so much to say about them!

I loved the diverse collection of writings about trees, from a huge range of authors. The tree alphabet is a very creative idea and contributed some beautiful 'illustrations'.

A lovely collection of stories from writers around the world. Unfortunately the ebook formatting made it difficult to read, which spoiled the experience of reading it. But a wonderful book that I would recommend.

This is a collection of a variety of literary works dedicated to trees. Some are really nice, some are just ok. Mostly I felt nothing. Interesting idea though.

This book is a miscellany of poetry and prose about (or referring to) trees, as well as personal reflections by the author Katie Holten, who splits her time between New York and Ireland. The title 'The Language of Trees' is somewhat misleading. There is only brief coverage of how trees communicate with each other; rather, the focus is on the significance they have for humans. A clearer title might have been 'The Meaning of Trees.' In that respect, the book brings together extracts from a very wide range of writers. It is not clear why a few are included, such as Ada Lovelace and her pioneering work on computer programming. In other cases (the discussion of a legend by Socrates, for example) a tree is incidental. Nevertheless, the great majority of the material is interesting and apposite. The book would appeal to nature-lovers and people who are passionate about the environment.

I received a PDF copy of the text from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, the format did not allow me to appreciate the illustrations.

This is an absolute gem of a book, packed with interesting texts, beautifully illustrated. Couldn't put it down.

I was excited about this book but unfortunately the structure of the book was not a good fit for me. I found it to be a distraction and created a very disjointed reading experience for me. The topic is fascinating and important but I did not enjoy the process of reading this book.

A beautiful collection of work from some absoloutely wonderful individuals. This book is a love letter to trees, and while reading it I could feel the deep love and respect the contributors have for the planet and the living things that call it home.

Unfortunately I don't feel that I got the full experience from reading the e-arc of the book as the formatting was not great.