What do you think?
Rate this book
Be More Tree: A journey of wisdom, symbols, healing, and renewal
Discover how all trees can mirror us, teach us, and heal us.
Discover how all trees can mirror us, teach us, and heal us.
As author Alice Peck reflected on the maple tree in her backyard, she began to notice and then study its intricacies and changes. This became her regular meditation and inspiration. In Be More Tree , Alice shares what she has learned from that maple tree, and from the trees all around us. Every tree tells a complete and ongoing story—from its powerful taproots to the birds that alight on its fragile high branches. Trees reflect our lives through their perseverance and seasonal rhythms—always changing yet consistent. They evolve along a much more protracted timetable than humans. Like us, trees feel and react to their environment, and communicate with us in subtle but distinct ways. Here readers are invited to explore trees from four their roots—wisdom and understanding; their branches—symbols and rituals; their leaves—healing and science; and their seeds—transformation and spirituality. All of these elements show us how, although they live outside us, trees offer a path to our inner selves. From the Bodhi Tree to the Garden of Eden, the Druids to forest monks, medicines to tire swings—people have always received physical, psychological, and spiritual sustenance from trees. Filled with insights from botany to poetry, ecology to mythology, and herbalism to sacraments, Be More Tree explores the ways these grounded yet soaring entities can steady and move us, teach and transform us, inspire and comfort us.
Discover how all trees can mirror us, teach us, and heal us.
As author Alice Peck reflected on the maple tree in her backyard, she began to notice and then study its intricacies and changes. This became her regular meditation and inspiration. In Be More Tree , Alice shares what she has learned from that maple tree, and from the trees all around us. Every tree tells a complete and ongoing story—from its powerful taproots to the birds that alight on its fragile high branches. Trees reflect our lives through their perseverance and seasonal rhythms—always changing yet consistent. They evolve along a much more protracted timetable than humans. Like us, trees feel and react to their environment, and communicate with us in subtle but distinct ways. Here readers are invited to explore trees from four their roots—wisdom and understanding; their branches—symbols and rituals; their leaves—healing and science; and their seeds—transformation and spirituality. All of these elements show us how, although they live outside us, trees offer a path to our inner selves. From the Bodhi Tree to the Garden of Eden, the Druids to forest monks, medicines to tire swings—people have always received physical, psychological, and spiritual sustenance from trees. Filled with insights from botany to poetry, ecology to mythology, and herbalism to sacraments, Be More Tree explores the ways these grounded yet soaring entities can steady and move us, teach and transform us, inspire and comfort us.
- GenresNatureNatural History
144 pages, Paperback
Published September 6, 2016
2 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Alice Peck
21 books13 followersDrawn to finding the sacred in everyday things, Alice is the author of five books: Be More Tree; Mindful Beads; The Secret Language of Herbs; Bread, Body, Spirit; and Next to Godliness.
With Chris Grosso she cowrote Dead Set on Living—Making the Difficult but Beautiful Journey from F#*king Up to Waking Up. Her writing has appeared in Center for Humans & Nature, Spirituality & Health, Daily Good, and The Mountain Record. As an editor, she focuses on creativity, mind, and spirit, collaborating with spiritual teachers, psychotherapists, meditation instructors, and authors of all sorts.
She lives in Red Hook, Brooklyn with her family.
With Chris Grosso she cowrote Dead Set on Living—Making the Difficult but Beautiful Journey from F#*king Up to Waking Up. Her writing has appeared in Center for Humans & Nature, Spirituality & Health, Daily Good, and The Mountain Record. As an editor, she focuses on creativity, mind, and spirit, collaborating with spiritual teachers, psychotherapists, meditation instructors, and authors of all sorts.
She lives in Red Hook, Brooklyn with her family.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 6, 2018
From Brooklyn (where, ironically, "A Tree Grows") Peck reflects on how watching the mature maple tree in her back yard has enlightened her more to life. After the tree survived hurricane Sandy, she began photographing it and soon had a maple following on Facebook. This daily tree meditation led her to appreciate the many poets, artists, photographers, and writers before her who have also been one with tree and therein, set her on her course of appreciation for the oldest surviving life on our planet.
Showing how even a tiny, city plot can cement one so intensely with nature and nurture profound insights.
Set in 4 parts: Roots (Wisdom, Lore and Understanding), Branches (Symbols, Myths and Rituals), Leaves (Healing, Science and Practical Applications) and Seeds (Awareness, Transformation and Spirituality) we are given a page for each tree noted, tidbits about and a quote tethered in with relevance. There is also a gorgeously illustrated rendition of each tree alongside the lettered page by Melissa Launay. (My favorite part!)
Finally, there are several pages of "Further Reading and Resources" where books and such relevant to topic are shared.
It could have been more in depth, but it was still a delightful way to spend a rainy afternoon.
Showing how even a tiny, city plot can cement one so intensely with nature and nurture profound insights.
Set in 4 parts: Roots (Wisdom, Lore and Understanding), Branches (Symbols, Myths and Rituals), Leaves (Healing, Science and Practical Applications) and Seeds (Awareness, Transformation and Spirituality) we are given a page for each tree noted, tidbits about and a quote tethered in with relevance. There is also a gorgeously illustrated rendition of each tree alongside the lettered page by Melissa Launay. (My favorite part!)
Finally, there are several pages of "Further Reading and Resources" where books and such relevant to topic are shared.
It could have been more in depth, but it was still a delightful way to spend a rainy afternoon.
October 17, 2016
This is an inspiring and quirky collection of musings on various types of trees--and even individual trees--blending the personal thoughts of the author with insights from the fields of botany, poetry, art, literature, history, folklore, and spirituality. The illustrations are unbelievably gorgeous!!
October 23, 2016
Alice Peck’s Be More Tree explores the interconnectedness between trees and humans (as well as with the entirety of life), something too often taken for granted. You can “be more tree” by devoting more attention to this relationship.
As you turn each page, you visit with a different tree species and are treated to fun facts, an illustration, a quotation, and words of wisdom and suggestions from the author. Here’s an example from the kauri tree’s page: You learn that the Maori people believe “that all the trees in the forest play their part in holding up the sky,” and when humans have to chop down a tree to be used to build something, they first recite prayers asking for forgiveness for taking its life force away from the forest. The kauri tree’s page includes a proverb: “If the roots of the tree are not watered, the tree will never grow.” And Charles Darwin presents a physical description of these trees from his book Voyage of the Beagle. The author offers a suggestion: “The next time you put a log on a fire or break a branch of a tree to use for a walking stick, do so in a spirit of gratitude, asking forgiveness in your own personal karakia, respecting the life force that you have used for your own purpose.”
Throughout the book, guest appearances are made by such notable figures as Beethoven, Gandhi, Thoreau, and Julia Butterfly Hill. I was deeply touched by the passage asking you to “imagine the tree being chopped down and the fresh black heart of a cut ebony trunk. Imagine the forest, the loggers, the traders, the shippers, the carvers, the store, and all the steps it takes to get a piece of that glorious tree to you. Was it worth it?” So much to think about.
Alice Peck has a wonderful ability of investigating and cherishing the oneness of life in this universe and I strongly recommend two other books by her: Next to Godliness—Finding the Sacred in Housekeeping and Bread Body Spirit—Finding the Sacred in Food.
And now I am eager to go outside to admire and ponder a favorite tree in my backyard as I try to be more tree!
As you turn each page, you visit with a different tree species and are treated to fun facts, an illustration, a quotation, and words of wisdom and suggestions from the author. Here’s an example from the kauri tree’s page: You learn that the Maori people believe “that all the trees in the forest play their part in holding up the sky,” and when humans have to chop down a tree to be used to build something, they first recite prayers asking for forgiveness for taking its life force away from the forest. The kauri tree’s page includes a proverb: “If the roots of the tree are not watered, the tree will never grow.” And Charles Darwin presents a physical description of these trees from his book Voyage of the Beagle. The author offers a suggestion: “The next time you put a log on a fire or break a branch of a tree to use for a walking stick, do so in a spirit of gratitude, asking forgiveness in your own personal karakia, respecting the life force that you have used for your own purpose.”
Throughout the book, guest appearances are made by such notable figures as Beethoven, Gandhi, Thoreau, and Julia Butterfly Hill. I was deeply touched by the passage asking you to “imagine the tree being chopped down and the fresh black heart of a cut ebony trunk. Imagine the forest, the loggers, the traders, the shippers, the carvers, the store, and all the steps it takes to get a piece of that glorious tree to you. Was it worth it?” So much to think about.
Alice Peck has a wonderful ability of investigating and cherishing the oneness of life in this universe and I strongly recommend two other books by her: Next to Godliness—Finding the Sacred in Housekeeping and Bread Body Spirit—Finding the Sacred in Food.
And now I am eager to go outside to admire and ponder a favorite tree in my backyard as I try to be more tree!
January 26, 2018
I enjoyed the descriptions of the trees and their history and lore, as well as the illustrations. What I felt was missing were some real photos of the described trees. Of course I can look those up elsewhere. But I would have liked to be able to see the real tree as I was reading about it.
January 16, 2023
The artwork is beautiful and the information is so uplifting and engaging!
April 12, 2025
A gentle and beautifully illustrated guide to tree symbolism. Some of the lessons presented here felt a little repetitive to me, but I still enjoyed Peck's soothing authorial voice.
September 28, 2016
With Be More Tree, Alice Peck has put together a wonderful offering that’s accessible for people from all walks of life. This is a beautifully illustrated book that includes fervent prose, meditations, mantras, and prayers to help deepen the reader’s relationship with themselves, nature, and the interconnectedness of all things. I love this book!
April 6, 2021
This is a cutesie book about trees for people who adore trees. It includes whimsical paintings of each tree type that are difficult to distinguish one from another. Quite quirky and speculative. Didn't do much for me. And I worship trees.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews