Book Review

Last night I went to the Strand to see David Allen Sibley speak about his new field guide to trees. I have to say, as far as field guides go, this is worth purchasing.

Sibley of course is most known for his bird field guides, The Sibley Guide to Birds and The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America. His hand-painted renderings of birds are beautiful and in many ways more evocative of the actual bird than photos.

Equally so, his renderings of almost 700 tree species are lovely. But what I liked most about this book -- what compelled me to buy it, even though I have dozens of books about trees -- is that it is arranged taxonomically and by plant family. I often rely on plant family characteristics to narrow down the list of possibilities when I am confronted with a plant I can't identify and though that's a sophisticated approach for a novice, it's ultimately an inevitable strategy for any plant lover. Yet so few books are arranged by family.

The book is not perfect, of course. To me, it could be twice as big but I suppose field guides, by definition, should be limited to a certain size. But I did miss some of the more personal information and opinions about various plants that make the Dirr book so necessary. With most of the plant books I own, there's an obvious love -- or even obsession -- about plants evident in the writing and I don't get that impression from the Sibley guide. Still, the arrangement by plant family made it a must-buy.