Miller took her young readers to the top of redwood trees to learn how scientists study the canopy of these magnificent giants and the organisms that live there. They also are learning how water moves through the trunks and branches of trees that grow to more than 300 feet. “The story is a complete package with interesting sidebars, including one explaining how salmon and redwood forests benefit each other,” said Mary Knudson, a freelance science writer. “I first went camping on the northern California coast in the 1970s,” Miller said. “I was awestruck by the redwoods, but I didn’t know then what was going on in the tops of the old-growth trees. Nobody did. It was a decade later that researchers discovered that the canopies supported thriving aerial ecosystems, with their own trees and bushes and animal life.” Researching the story, she said, “felt like exploring a hidden world—and one that young readers would be just as thrilled by as I was.”
