If These Trees Could Only Talk

An Anecdotal History of New York City's Pelham Bay Park

Non-Fiction - Historical
250 Pages
Reviewed on 09/11/2014
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    Book Review

Reviewed by Karen Pirnot for Readers' Favorite

If These Trees Could Only Talk by Theodore Kazimiroff is actually a prequel to his first book entitled The Last Algonquin. It is intended to clarify and add to the stories told in the first book. I liked the fact that the author has done substantial research and also that he has been told stories to add interest to his own research. I was mesmerized by the story of the background of Joe Two Trees, an Algonquin who lived in the area of Pelham Park in New York. I wanted so much for the story to continue and was disappointed when, after nearly sixty pages, the story ends. From that point on, the author gives background information which captured my attention on a scale of medium to high. For New Yorkers, the history of the park should be mandatory reading for school children. For those who have read the first book, the subsequent information will probably answer questions left unanswered by the first book.

Information-wise, If These Trees Could Only Talk was chock-full of fascinating details of historical significance. It has a lot of personal charm and also significant information for the historian in us. A lot of information the reader might value is contained in the Resource Notes in the back. How the Wappinger tribe "sold" more than a hundred thousand acres of land and how Native Americans fought for their country during the War of Independence are historical facts of which all Americans should be aware. But, Kazimiroff is such a good "tale teller" that my favorite part will always be the tale of a little Indian boy who was taught history the old fashioned way.