Can Trees Talk? Books for Kids

You may think of plants as boring and still.  But did you know that they have ways of communicating with each other and with the rest of the world? Plants can use their scent to call for help or attract pollinators to help them grow. They can even give off chemicals to warn their neighbors about incoming predators. The books below are all about plants (both real and magical) and how they communicate. 

Can You Hear the Trees Talking? is a young readers edition of The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. It takes you on a journey through the forest and how trees thrive there.  Questions like “Can trees talk?” and “What are trees afraid of?” are answered in this super interesting book.

Listen to the Language of the Trees tells the story of a Douglas fir seedling and how it becomes a tree with the help of the plants around it. You’ll learn about mycorrhizal networks and how trees can care for each other.  

Did you ever realize how much plants move? In Plants Can't Sit Still, see how plants wiggle, reach, tumble, float and ride and why they do these things in this informative picture book. Be sure to read the back matter and learn things like how Touch-me-nots can signal danger to other plants.

If you’re looking for some fun fiction stories, try The Pod and the Bog from the Zoey and Sassafras series. Zoey loves to help her mom take care of magical creatures. In this story, she is given a magic glowing seed pod. The plant seems to love the sound of her singing, but will Zoey be able to figure out what the plant needs most in order to thrive?

In Apple and Magnolia, Britta knows that her two favorite trees are best friends. When Magnolia seems to become ill and looks like she might not survive the winter, Britta tries her best to connect the two trees so that Apple can help Magnolia flourish. Her father and sister don’t seem convinced, but Britta’s Nana reminds her how powerful friendships can be.