A Canadian illustrator, acclaimed for The Wildlife 1 2 3 (1989), details the 212-year life-cycle of a sugar maple in a northern forest. Taking root in a rotting log when Native Americans are still passing by, the tree weathers drought, forest fire, an ice storm, and a lightning strike. Settlers build and a community grows; the tree is tapped for syrup, provides shelter to woodland creatures, and receives its final shock from acid rain. Once fallen, it completes the cycle as host to a new seedling. In Thornhill's bright, crisply delineated illustrations, dozens of other species appear, often identified, always identifiable. Not unique, but unusually attractive and detailed; a useful addition. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 4-10)
