Jean Giono's inspiring little book "The Man Who Planted Trees" explores the contrast between earth husbandry and war-mongering, succeeding on nearly every level. The true power in the work is in it's simplicity, mirrored in Michael McCurdy's wonderfully detailed black-and-white wood engravings which illustrate the work.

In a well-written afterword, Norma Goodrich explores Giono's linkage of literature as a balm for hopelessness with a dream to reforest the earth (which may sound like a bit of a stretch, and requires a descent to humanistic sappiness, alas).

This book should appeal to readers of all ages.

I've been reading and re-reading this book for the past ten years, using it both for personal study in group studies on more than one occassion. In particular, this work lends itself quite well to weekly study (such as reading groups, Sunday School classes, etc.) with group discussion. A complementary study guide is available, which I have not used, but which others have with success. A must-have for any collector of modern Christian classics, or for those who read and enjoyed other vaguely similar works such as Peck's "The Road Less Travelled".

Frankly, I was too preoccupied with college, family, and postgraduate work to pay much attention to politics during the Carter presidency, so I believed the conservative pundits who portrayed Mr. Carter as a "failed president" and an intellectual lightweight. This book proves me to be way off base, as Mr. Carter's honesty, wisdom,integrity, self-effacing good humor, and deeply abiding faith shine through each and every page. To Mr. Carter, Faith implies Action - and it is remarkably refreshing to realize that this ex-President is fully and actively engaged in real life, i.e., teaching Sunday school, mowing the church lawn, hammering nails for Habitat, etc. Lots of down-home, country Christianity here - and while this is not a theology text, I'd bet that there's more practical wisdom than you'd find in, say, 4 or 5 of those. This book works well as a daily devotional, at the bedside, or (as I used it) as a Sunday school text.

I'm a reader who enjoys trying to "put the pieces together" as I make my way through a good mystery. This book frustrated me by making sudden, jolting turns through the plot and then it pulled the rug out from under me at the end. On the plus side, it's an easy read and suffices for an afternoon of sheer escapism. Think Grisham with a graduate-level psychology degree.

There's a lot to love in this book by D. B. Johnson. There is the priceless story-lesson concerning two bears traveling to the same destination by widely divergent paths, one enjoying the pleasures of nature along the way while the other works to earn fare to travel by more modern means. There are the beautifully memorable illustrations, one after another, of the bears as they make their way to Fitchburg. And there is the message, to stop and smell the roses, take in a little nature, just walk. Or maybe just sit in the woods and read Thoreau.