Earlier this week I wrote about the children's book "For the Birds," the biography of Roger Tory Peterson.As I mentioned then, we all know that the Lorax speaks for the trees. Well, the Lorax is not alone.
One could also argue that John Muir, founder and the first president of the Sierra Club does as well. In fact, a Californian grove of redwoods near San Francisco (the Muir Woods National Monument) was named in 1908 in his honor.
Today, in class, I started reading my annual Earth Day Season favorite: "Operation Redwood" by S. Terrell French. I was struck by the 2 opening book quotes:
"The battle we have fought, and are still fighting, for the forests is part of the eternal conflicts between right and wrong, and we cannot expect to see the end of it... So we must count on watching and striving for these trees, and should always be glad to find anything so surely good and noble to strive for." ~ John Muir, 1895
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength body and soul alike." ~ John Muir, 1912To learn more about John Muir and to "speak for" the trees, check out these sites:
- More on "Operation Redwood" on GTG (including links to lesson plans)
- PBS site for Ken Burns' production "The National Parks"
- Visit the John Muir website
Book Picture from http://www.amazon.com/Operation-Redwood-S-Terrell-French/dp/0810997207, redwood/bik pic from http://www.bicycling.com/ride-maps/featured-rides/you-are-here-big-basin-redwoods-state-park-california, John Muir pic from http://www.johnmuir.org/
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