It's time for the cover reveal of 'Mother Aspen', the new non-fiction picture book I've illustrated, written by Annette LeBox and published by Groundwood Books. This lyrical children's book teaches about the life and communication of quaking aspens, while also showing us the wonders of the forest. Creatures hide out on every page, the leaves change colour, and surprises abound. From foxes to badgers, slugs and lizards...you never know what you'll see!
A story of symbiosis, inspired by the groundbreaking work of Dr. Suzanne Simard
For centuries, Mother Aspen has cared for her community. She shelters and feeds the inhabitants of her grove. She is hundreds of years old, and her children are the sprouts that she sends up from her roots. Above ground, the aspens use the sun to produce sugar. Below ground, fungi wrap threads around the aspens’ roots, feeding on the sugar that they cannot make themselves. And in exchange, the fungi carry messages from tree to tree — warnings of drought, disease and infestations.
As the seasons and years pass, the forest inhabitants continue to thrive by working together — but when a violent storm upends the order of things, can the forest survive without its mother tree?
Find 'Mother Aspen' online and in local book stores starting fall 2024!