A novel of activism and natural-world power presents interlocking fables about nine remarkable strangers who are summoned in different ways by trees for an ultimate, brutal stand to save the continent's few remaining acres of virgin forest.

"Explores in words and pictures different ways of seeing and experiencing trees"--

In a letter to his children, a father recounts memories of the role Steve, the tree in their front yard, has played in their lives.

A child climbs five different trees, looking for a place to hide and finding an increasing number of animals already in residence, until finally the perfect tree is found.

"In an alternate past--or possible future--a mighty tree stands on the banks of a winding river, bearing silent witness to the flow of time and change. A family farms the fertile valley. Soon, a village sprouts, and not long after, a town. Residents learn to harness the water, the wind, and the animals in order to survive and thrive. The growing population becomes ever more industrious and clever, bending nature itself to their will and their ambition:...

An old red oak tree tells how he and his crow friend, Bongo, help their human neighbors get along after a threat against an immigrant family is carved into the tree's trunk.

Little Tree is very happy in the forest, where he is surrounded by other little trees and his leaves keep him cool in the heat of summer, but when autumn comes and the other trees drop their leaves, Little Tree cannot be pursuaded to let his go, even after they wither and turn brown.

A tree tells why, out of all four seasons, autumn is the hardest.