This book has numerous authors. It is, just as the title describes, a description of the various types of forests that cover North America. The chapters are about visits to different national parks and refuges, each encompassing a particular type of habitat. Names of plants abound, their different communities and what makes them thrive and how people are managing woodlands to keep certain species from disappearing. There's frequent mention of harvesting methods, selective logging and thinning of trees, concerns about how to manage fires and over other negative influences on forestland: insect infestations, tree diseases, acid rain... The text is brief and the pictures are numerous. Photographs are very nice and the illustrations by Alan Singer are exquisite in their tidy detail. Disappointingly, only the cover illustration (hidden by the jacket) includes a bird, all the others show identifying tree foliage.

from the Dogear Diary ( )

not very exciting writing, usual pictures. ho, hum. ( )

This is a laid-back series of trips and visits through the forests of North America. Photograpgy is excelent. Writing style is that of a series of trip logs. This writing style is pleasant reading but lacks much excitement. The book starts in the northeast and moves south with the calender, then west, ending in the forests of the pacific northwest.

Photos occupy about half the content but that is appropriate for portraying the forests and its trees, landscapes, and smaller plants. Outstanding quality accurate color drawings of individual plants and trees accompany each woods or chapter. ( )