The Tree Climber’s Guide by Jack Cooke - review
Tree climbing is one of the activities that I’ve loved for as long as I can remember. So you can understand why I made a beeline for The Tree Climber’s Guide when I saw it on the shelf of a local bookshop.
As soon as I picked this book up I was immersed. The evocative descriptions of the trees and climbs, added to the stunning illustrations, meant I found myself imagining the climbs in full detail, building up a wonderful picture.
Reading this book inspired me to dash to the nearest tree and (attempt) to scale it. I don’t know how many times I have dipped into this book, and, inspired, leapt to my feet to find the nearest tree, only to be confronted by waterfalls of rain trickling from the branches.
All of the author’s experiences in The Tree Climber’s Guide are, rather surprisingly, in London. Jack Cooke describes the smell and texture of the leaves and bark of the trees, and the astonishing view you get from them; how your perspective of the world is so different, and how people passing by just seem like players in a pantomime. By simply climbing a tree, you can escape the smoky grey bustle of city life, and find your very own world.
This book shows you that there is such a thing as an urban paradise, just in the form of a tree top. And there are many tree tops that will gladly let you into a private utopia.
The Tree Climber’s Guide does not tell you how to climb trees. It encourages the act of climbing trees, and it reflects on the climber’s own experiences. Jack Cooke especially encourages adults to climb trees, because he does not think tree climbing is just for children, and he wants all of us to ‘find our inner gibbon’.
This descriptive, yet witty and informative book will appeal to older children and adults who love nature and the outdoors.
Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop