There are poems about different species of trees - oak, coconut palm, baobab, sequoia and more - and poems about parts of the trees, like roots, bark, leaves and tree rings. The poems
The first poem, "The Seed" is a shape poem written in the form of an infinity symbol, accompanied by an illustration showing the inside of a seed.
"Inside this seed you'll find a stem and leaf that grow with rain
into a trunk and branch and leaf and seed that starts again."
The poems are a nice mix of rhymed couplets, doggerel, list poems, and cross-rhymed stanzas. They are playful and informative and, in some cases, lyrically lovely, and each of the poems is accompanied by a pice of Florian's artwork, which is a combination of painting and collage, as best I can tell.
To the left, you can see the two-page spread that is "Giant Sequoias". Here's the text (bolding from the original):
Giant SequoiasI bought my copy of this book at Children's Book World in Haverford. A must-buy for classrooms and libraries everywhere, and for people who have a thing for nature - especially trees.
by Douglas Florian
Of three thousand years.
Friends to the sky.
Spongy thick bark.
Large as an ark.
Anchored in earth.
Grow by degrees
To world's tallest trees.
Never destroy a