Format: Poetry

The epigraph of this children’s poetry collection sets the aim of the poems for the reader: “when I walk/ wide-eyed/ through today/ yesterday is forgotten/ tomorrow faraway.” ‘I Hear the Trees’ is another wonderful collection of poems by Zaro Weil, which again immerses the reader in the splendours and mysteries of Mother Earth, presenting a wide range of poems, from the sensory joys of nature to the deepest emotions, expressed in a variety of poetic styles and forms, offering something for everyone.

Author Zaro Weil invites readers to exist in the moment and immerse themselves in these poems and nature. Her poems address the entire sensory experience of nature and touch on a variety of emotions, ranging from a moving poem that includes a mention of the death of a dog to a humorous alliterative poem about berries eaten by birds. There is subject matter for nearly every reader—these poems feature themes such as space, snakes, insects, dinosaurs, and even a poem highlighting the repulsiveness of rotting fruits and vegetables that provide a home for insects, some serious, others whimsical. All of them enchant and engage in different ways. There’s even a poem in play format, ‘A Little Kew Gardens Play’, to encourage some dramatic responses. No book of nature poetry would be complete without a discussion of conservation, and the author reminds readers that “hold on tight to your world, for your world is my world, your planet my planet”.

The format, with colourful illustrations beautifully created by Junli Song, makes them accessible to a younger pre-reader audience; however, the content and the vocabulary are perhaps aimed at older readers. Suggestions at the end of the book from the Centre on Literacy in Primary Education offer ways to further engage in some of the poems. Teachers, librarians, and parents will be able to use these as a springboard for their own activities that engage children in literature and nature.