David Bruce Casterson

In the Company of Redwoods David Bruce Casterson

In the Company of Redwoods is a book that kids, students, parents, teachers, artists, botanists and grandparents alike will love, for it makes it easy to learn the names, facts and faces of the understory plants most commonly associated with the Coast Redwood. It is designed to be carried on walks in each of the more than 60 Redwood State Parks and Preserves in coastal California from Big Sur to the Oregon border. In the Company of Redwoods was written by a high school biology teacher with extensive field trip experience in the Redwood forest. It is designed to be an interactive guide to learning about the lives of the understory plants that have evolved to live in close association with Coastal Redwood trees. The plants are arranged by bloom dates so that when the reader encounters one of them blooming, thumbing forward or back a few pages in the book will yield other plants to learn. Each of these Redwood community plants is covered in a two page fashion, the left-hand pages are text pages, providing interesting facts and stories covering the botany and environmental aspects of Redwood community plants. Included for each plant are color photographs that aid in identification. The photographs are labeled with educational questions and observations. Vocabulary words are underlined and definitions can be found in the book's glossary. Also included at the end of the book are sections on native plant protection, tree planting, Native American, pioneer and current uses of these plants, plant family characteristics, an index of common and scientific names, a sample food web, and bibliographic information. The right-hand pages feature the author's large fine art gray-scale images that may be colored with colored pencils or watercolor paints. The simple, pleasurable act of applying color adds much to the learning process, making it possible to learn the plants for a life time and not just for a moment. As the reader/artist adds natural colors, the images come to life with the grace that plants in nature often possess. Unlike in most coloring books where one colors on blank spaces between solid lines, here the reader/artist colors on the lines and shading of the leaves, flowers and stems. Capturing the life and vibrancy in this way connects people with nature.