Tree Books: Your Guide to Nature's Literature
Jubilant June: The Juniper Tree
Your Guide to Personal Engagement with the Trees in the Forest. This book is one of the best-selling tree books, full of colorful images. Let Jubilant June take you on the journey that led the Checketts family to create their beloved 'Owl's Nest' forest family retreat. This true story is narrated by the special Mother Tree who became Darby's friend and teammate in making it happen.
Darby will tell you... As a human lives among trees, a strong mutual appreciation can develop, which the human can easily express to the trees by speaking to them and caring for them. The response from a tree is more subtle. It comes as the human receives impressions about what a tree might be sensing and through the helpful gifts the tree provides. It is wonderful to ask yourself, 'What if trees could talk? What would they say about you, your world, and life with their forest families?' My conversations with Jubilant June may be a joyful fantasy, but these exchanges help to convey a truthful account of what my Tree friend and I experienced together. I can talk about it, but she cannot. So I gave her a voice. I have learned so much from her. For a sneak peek, please visit Amazon.com for a book preview. Feel free to Contact Us about quantity purchase options or for more information on this nature retreat guide.
our Favorite TREE Books
Here are our favorite forest books that informed and inspired us.
We wholeheartedly recommend four best-selling tree books that have profoundly impacted countless readers across the globe and have continually inspired us while writing our "Forest" book. Each author is an expert in their respective field: (1) the science, (2) the stories, (3) the wonder, and (4) the intimate world of trees.
1) The Hidden Life of Trees. In this international bestseller, Peter Wohlleben opens readers’ eyes to the incredible processes occurring in forests daily. This new, breathtakingly illustrated edition brings these miraculous phenomena to life like never before. The book offers fascinating insights into the fungal communication highway known as the “wood wide web,” the life lessons learned in nature's tree school, and the diligent natural cleanup crews that recycle dying trees, among many other revelations. The photography is superb.
2) The Overstory. This 2019 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Fiction is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and resistance, serving as a stunning evocation of the natural world. From the roots to the crown and back to the seeds, Richard Powers’ interlocking fables transport readers from antebellum New York to the late twentieth-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest. This adult spellbinder is a must-read for anyone passionate about trees and nature.
3) Into the Forest: The Secret Language of Trees. For millennia, trees have offered renewal and inspiration, providing humanity with everything from spiritual sanctuary to the raw materials for our homes and children's books about trees. In this revealing book, Susan Tyler Hitchcock partners with National Geographic to blend legendary photography with cutting-edge science, illuminating how trees influence life on Earth—from our personal lives to the weather cycle.
4) Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest. In this New York Times Best Seller, Suzanne Simard invites us into her intimate world of trees. She brilliantly reveals that trees are not merely sources of timber or pulp but are part of a complex, interdependent circle of life. Forests are social, cooperative systems connected through underground networks that allow trees to communicate their vitality and vulnerabilities—creating communal lives that mirror our own. This work is not just a book; it's a guide for those seeking a nature retreat and understanding the forest family retreat experience.
Our Books of forest, family, and Faith...
Darby is the author of 19 books. Most are available at Amazon.com. Please contact us for updates.
NEW: Forest Is the Tree Word for Family. Please visit Amazon.com to preview Darby Checketts' soul-stirring account of his nature connections and woodland projects, which include conversations with his tree partners. This is Darby's eighteenth book followed by Jubilant June and is among the best-selling tree books available. It will inspire and guide you to create nature connections for your family and friends, with special pages to start your Tree Partners journal, perfect for a forest family retreat.
The Utah Cure: Three Days & Two Nights. Darby & Sharon Checketts have lived in Utah off and on for most of their lives. They attribute many of the positive attributes of their family to camping out and spending time together in the mountains, forests, and canyons of the Great State of Utah. In this book, they will help you discover the curative, rejuvenating, and inspirational effects of being in the great outdoors. It serves as a nature retreat guide, providing a succinct, reader-friendly overview of Utah history, tribes, geography, geology, and more. You will be guided to over 40 of the coolest destinations and most magical connections across Utah's natural wonderland. Learn methods of travel and camping that will make your adventure safe & satisfying while fostering family togetherness that is simple & sublime.
Travels on the American Road with Sean & Vince. What does happiness mean in America? There does seem to be a fundamental human quest wherein each individual seeks to determine their purpose in life and to make the journey a satisfying experience. Each person gets to be young once and, if we manage to stay healthy, each of us gets to be old once. In this book, you will be inspired by the ambition of a young man named Sean, and you'll be reassured by the wisdom of his "senior" friend, Vince. Their two perspectives from the early years and later years of life can represent useful bookends to hold in place your own "books of life." Join young Sean as he travels for 31 days across 23 states and shares his journal with Vince. Sean and Vince are fictional characters who alternate as Darby Checketts' avatars.
The New American Prosperity: Redefining Success as Smart & Happy vs. Rich & Famous. Americans and others have historically been inspired by the idea of the American Dream. And now, for so many, the rough landing after the first two decades of this new millennium has evoked fear, anxiety, and even anger. We have discovered that the notion of Rich & Famous can turn out to be an inflated bubble of false ambition leading to a burst of disappointment. American prosperity will return. As we learn from what we are experiencing, we will redefine success in practical and meaningful terms that will erase fear and restore our confidence and determination to move forward. The New American Prosperity is a collection of thirty-nine (39) essays with a common theme of redefining success. Darby Checketts' commitment is to assist you, your loved ones, and your friends in meeting life's challenges in a way that demonstrates how Smart you are and how Happy you are determined to be.
You Can Bet Your Life on God: Most of my books were written for the audiences I served as a business consultant. As I approached retirement, I wrote for wider audiences to share many ideas and values that have contributed to my success and happiness. I wrote one book specifically about my faith. Its subtitle explains my purpose: "In a World of Toil and Turmoil...In a World of Joy and Wonder, Let's Keep God in the Conversation." And, may the forest be with you.
--Darby Checketts
