“Trees don’t simply maintain the conditions necessary for human life and most animal life on earth; trees created these conditions through the community of forests.”
This is one of many thought-provoking concepts that are explored in To Speak for the Trees by Diana Beresford-Kroeger, the title chosen as this year’s “One Book, One Ptbo” community read. Being held locally for the third year by the Peterborough Public Library, the program is meant to encourage community-wide discussions with a highly acclaimed and community-picked Canadian book as a jumping off point.
Subtitled “My Life’s Journey from Ancient Celtic Wisdom to a Healing Vision of the Forest,” this year’s book was written by a world-recognized scientist in the fields of biochemistry, botany, and medicine, who has published several bestselling books on nature.
Released in 2019 and the winner of the 2020 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award, To Speak for the Trees offers an account of Beresford-Kroeger’s life in detail and how she came to her illuminating ideas about how forests can not only heal us, but save the planet.
The book is in part a memoir about the author’s story of being orphaned and raised on one of the last bastions of the Celtic culture in Ireland, where she gained an understanding of the healing power of plants, but it is also part environmental non-fiction and includes a section on the Ogham alphabet, in which every letter is named for a tree or important tree companion.
“The title highlights that we as humans need to speak up for nature, that we can’t just be using nature indiscriminately, and that we need to defend the trees and protect them,” says Karen Bisschop, Community Development Librarian at the Peterborough Public Library. “That really struck a nerve for people. We live in Peterborough and the Kawarthas, so we’re very aware of its importance because we’re literally surrounded by trees.”
To join in the conversation around the book, community members are invited to join the One Book, One Ptbo public Facebook group where they can share their thoughts, engage in discussions, and connect with other readers. This fall, the Peterborough Public Library has held successful events around themes of the book, including forest walks, mandala-making workshops, and book clubs.
The grand finale event of this year’s One Book, One Ptbo will be an evening with Beresford-Kroeger herself, taking place on Tuesday, November 4 at 7 p.m. at the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre. The author will do a live reading, sign books, and be interviewed by GreenUP Peterborough’s executive director Tegan Moss.
In addition, To Speak for the Trees and Beresford-Kroeger’s latest book, Our Green Heart, will be available for purchase courtesy of Peterborough’s Take Cover Books and can be signed by the author. Admission to the grand finale event is free, but advance registration is required as seating is limited.
Copies of To Speak for the Trees are still available to be borrowed from the library in advance of the grand finale event, in paper copy, e-book, and audio book formats. Readers interested in beginning a book club with friends can borrow the Book Club in a Kit, which will include 10 copies of the text, discussions questions, and other resources.
Participants are also encouraged to download the Beanstack app to track their reading, participate in reading challenges, complete activities to earn prizes, and to share their reading with friends.
To continue the conversation after the grand finale event, the Peterborough Public Library is encouraging participants to check out related titles, including Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard, and The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben.
For more information on One Book, One Ptbo or to register for the grand finale event, visit www.ptbolibrary.ca/onebook.
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