A new book by Brenlee Robinson

True stories from Canada's past, rooted in its trees.

Sixteen deeply researched, easy-to-read tales — from Jacques Cartier's white pines to the Wolseley elm — that illuminate Canada's history through the trees that witnessed it.

Pre-order the bookRead the stories
16 true stories1535 → todayCoast to coast
Rooted in Trees book cover

"After exploring these stories, readers find themselves feeling a little bit more Canadian."

About the book

A fresh perspective on the trees that shaped a nation.

Rooted in Trees is a collection of sixteen little-known true stories from Canadian history, seen through a tree-focused lens. Each chapter develops in its own emotional tone, and most close with an update on the featured tree today.

The stories range from the 1500s to the present day and originate from coast to coast — from Quebec's maple syrup vaults to Haida Gwaii's Golden Spruce, from a single elm in Winnipeg to the old-growth giants of British Columbia.

It's a book for nature lovers, history buffs, folklore readers, visitors to Canada, new Canadians and long-time Canadians alike — anyone who has ever stood beneath a great tree and wondered what it had seen.

Inside the book

Sixteen stories. One canopy.

A few of the chapters waiting between the covers.

01

The Great Maple Syrup Heist

$18 million of syrup, stolen from a Quebec warehouse. What makes it so valuable?

02

Jacques Cartier & the Tree of Life

1535: a crew saved from scurvy by white pine — and a discovery that changed exploration.

04

The Comfort Maple

Canada's oldest sugar maple, entwined with Laura Secord's bravery in 1812.

06

One Silver Maple, 4,000 Gifts

The Toronto tree that inspired 'The Maple Leaf Forever' — and a new era of urban salvage.

08

The Women of Winnipeg

1957: neighbourhood women face down city axemen to save the Wolseley Elm.

09

The Golden Spruce

A forester's desperate act, a sacred Haida tree, and a disappearance still unsolved.

11

The War in the Woods

Clayoquot Sound, 1993: the largest non-violent protest in the world.

16

A Short History of the Hockey Stick

From Mi'kmaq carvers and hornbeam wood to today's synthetic blades.

…and eight more stories inside.

The witnesses

Trees from the pages.

The Old-Growth Giants

British Columbia's ancient cedars — the elders of our forests.

The Comfort Maple

Preserved 1946. A witness since the 1500s.

The Wolseley Elm

The tree that stopped the road — Winnipeg, 1957.

Moss & Memory

Centuries written in bark.

Winnipeg Free Press, Sept. 19, 1957

The author

Brenlee Robinson

Brenlee holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and a Master of Forest Conservation. A patriotic Canadian who has twice lived in the United States for five years before "running back home," she set out to help Canadians appreciate their own history.

She lives in Toronto, where she writes at the intersection of forest, folklore and nation.

cdn.treestories@gmail.com

Coming soon

Reserve your copy of Rooted in Trees.

Be the first to read these sixteen stories. Pre-order now and we'll let you know the moment the book is ready.

No spam — just one note when the book is available.