The Sibley Guide to Trees (Sibley Guides)

Sibley's bird guide has become the new standard for birders and general naturalists. I was not expecting him to make a tree guide, but I'm so glad he did. I was able to identify some species that had stumped me for years using this guide. I also appreciate the graphic which identifies if the tree is native, introduced, or naturalized. This guide also gives the proper weight to common non-native trees, which is very important for those of us exploring the urban landscape. Even the negative reviews have to admit: this book is full of beautiful crisp paintings. As for the size, it's true: you can't fit it in your back pocket. But a truly comprehensive guide like this could never be made pocket sized. Perhaps there will be eastern and western guides split from this one, as happened with the bird guide. I can't wait to see what other guides we will see from this amazing author and artist.

Wow! I really like this book. It is easy to use and gives so much information to make it easier for a "newbie" like me to identify trees. The drawings are detailed with good descriptions. The quality of the book is great in every way. The reason I like this book better than one on trees for my section of the country is that so many times I come across a tree that is "non-native" to my area and it is not listed in the other tree books. This book has native trees and common trees. I have found it very useful.

This is an amazing book. It is not the most comprehensive guide, but covering more the most common half of tree species in North America, it would be quite unwieldy to tote around if Sibley were aiming at completeness. Sibley has arranged the trees by families, which is quite convenient for narrowing down what you are trying to identify. However, what makes this book such a fantastic companion is how he can pack the most relevant information, mainly in pictorial form, about each tree in a page or two. The illustrations of leaves (often both sides, some in fall colors), bark, twigs, seeds, nuts, acorns, flowers, etc. are geared to helping make a rapid identification. By using pictures, instead of lengthy descriptions, you can instantly compare the tree you are looking at to the species in the book. If you are interested about the trees in your back yard, the local park, or hiking through the forest, this guide can help you find out what you are looking at. Knowing the name, can then be the spring board to find out more our leafy friends.

The artwork in this book puts me in mind of David More's work in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees which covers trees grown in England and Europe. I remember wishing there was a book of that quality for North America. In August of this year (2009) I got my wish. Sibley's guide is more portable than the aforementioned work. It's larger than the typical field guide but will fit into a backpack or can be left in the car. What strikes me most about Sibley's guide is the illustrations of leaves and fruit. They are more lifelike than even photographs can be and they seem to jump off of the clear white paper. The text is brief but mentions fine points in identification that make it invaluable. The only fault I can find with the book is it should have more tree silhouettes. Even with that fault I find it the best overall guide with its clear and precise leaf and fruit illustrations.

I was very excited when I found Sibley's field guide for trees. I was secretly wishing that Sibley would produce a field guide for trees with the same level of detail as his guide to birds so I had been holding out for a long time to buy a field guide for trees. Sibley's field guide, unlike others, actually shows full color illustrations of each part (young/old bark, buds, flowers and most importantly, like he did with the bird guide, a full review of the different forms of a leaf of every tree). In just a few minutes of thumbing through the book I was able to ID a couple of trees that have been vexing me. Like Sibley did with birds, he has produced the definitive field guide to trees.