"In this slight, lovely book, [Suzuki and Grady] tell the tale of one Douglas-fir tree that lived for more than five centuries. ...Bateman’s misty drawings offer portraits of the tree’s companions—woodpeckers, eagles, mice, ferns—whose lives are more fleeting. Suzuki and Grady lament the loss of old-growth forests and their biodiversity, showing how each tree is part of a massive, interconnected web of organisms including fungi, birds and insects. This book is both a touching look at a single tree and an articulate testimony to nature’s cyclic power." This refers to the hardcover edition

"Suzuki and Grady's engaging "biography" covers 700 years in the life of a Pacific Northwest Douglas fir. Each stage in the tree's life is placed not only within the context of history but also an ecological context. ... This happy melding of history, natural history, and biography is further enhanced by Robert Bateman's fine illustrations to create an instructive and graceful look at the interconnectedness of life." This refers to the hardcover edition

“Lyrical, richly detailed, and scientifically eye-opening, Suzuki’s text is augmented by Robert Bateman’s evocative original art. The result is a revelatory salute to life itself.”