Piet the squirrel is feeling lonely. He has no family and seeks out company when he sees a man sitting at the edge of the forest. This man is Peter. He too has no family around him, but he loves the company of the trees.

‘Did you know they have families too?’

The squirrel is intrigued, then excited when Peter offers to show Piet the tree children in the forest.

Piet runs and skips ahead, with Peter following. They encounter the wonders of a forest with clearings full of colourful flowers and teeny, tiny wildlife. But there are no tree children.

Further into the forest they find tree stumps and machines taking more trees. No tree children here either. Peter and Piet are saddened by the sight. Even deeper into the forest reveals even more missing trees. Where are all the tree children?

Finally Peter and Piet find what they’ve been looking for, and Piet brightens when he learns that even he, a tiny squirrel, has helped the trees and their children.

This sumptuously illustrated book is written by German forester and best selling author of The Hidden Life of Trees. Through the eyes of Peter and his new squirrel friend Piet, the reader experiences the glory of a forest, but is also shown two very different logging processes. One is destructive, the other much better for the environment and tree ‘children’.

In the rear of this environmentally conscious book is a page of truly fascinating facts about tree communication, life cycles and logging. A fantastic way to approach a study of trees by young students, learn more about them or just enjoy a wonderful but thought-provoking story.

Author – Peter Wohlleben

Illustrator – Cale Atkinson

Sophisticated Picture Book

Age – 5+

(Animals,Squirrel, Friendship, Family, Logging, Environment, Tree, Saplings, Baby trees, Nature, Cycle)