160,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ 

The Man Who Planted Trees

A novel from the Vintage Earth collection
Series: Vintage Earth
4.19 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 19,112 ratings, 2,257 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono is a timeless fable about a shepherd named ElzΓ©ard Bouffier, who devotes his life to planting trees in a desolate valley in the French Alps. Through his unwavering dedication, the area transforms from a barren landscape into a lush, thriving forest, demonstrating the profound impact one individual's commitment can have on the world. This story beautifully illustrates themes of perseverance and hope.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2800
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate stories of hope and transformation through the dedication of a single, determined individual. It offers a deeply touching portrayal of one man's quest to rejuvenate a barren landscape, showcasing the immense power of perseverance and care for nature. If you're drawn to tales that blend environmental themes with philosophical insights, this book may appeal to you.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

A solitary man plants a forest over many years, rejuvenating a barren wasteland.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

VINTAGE EARTH - A series of transformative novels with the environment at their heart.

The Man Who Planted Trees

'And so, with great care, he planted his hundred acorns.'

While hiking through the wild lavender in a wind-swept, desolate valley in Provence, a man comes across a solitary shepherd called Elzeard Bouffier. Staying with him, he watches Elzeard sorting and then planting hundreds of acorns as he walks through the wilderness.

Ten years later, after surviving the First World War, he visits the shepherd again. A young forest is slowly spreading over the valley - Elzeard has continued his work. Year after year, the narrator returns to see the miracle being created - a verdant, green landscape that is a testament to one man's creative instinct.

'I love the humanity of this story and how one man's efforts can change the future for so many' Michael Morpurgo, Independent

VINTAGE EARTH is a series of books that reveals our ever-changing relationship with the environment. These are stories old and young, set in worlds real or imagined, that allow us to explore our connection to the natural world. Transformative, wild, surprising, and essential, these novels take on the most urgent story of our times.

Series: Vintage Earth

View all
  • The Man with the Compound Eyes
    VINTAGE EARTH - A series of transformative novels with the environment at their heart. 'You must love the land, my children, and ring it in with your love' On the island of Wayo Wayo, every second son must leave on the day he turns fifteen as a sacrifice to the Sea God. Atile'i, however, is determined to defy destiny and...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Wall
    VINTAGE EARTH - A series of transformative novels with the environment at their heart. 'The air trembled, gold and green and clear, at the edges of the forest' A woman goes to the Austrian mountains to spend a few days in a hunting lodge with her cousin and his wife. When the couple fail to return from a walk, the...
    Paperback
    $2800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Man Who Planted Trees
    VINTAGE EARTH - A series of transformative novels with the environment at their heart. The Man Who Planted Trees 'And so, with great care, he planted his hundred acorns.' While hiking through the wild lavender in a wind-swept, desolate valley in Provence, a man comes across a solitary shepherd called Elzeard Bouffier. Staying with him, he watches Elzeard sorting and...
    Paperback
    $2800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Tusk That Did the Damage
    VINTAGE EARTH - Change the story. Novels to transform our relationship with the natural world. The Tusk That Did the Damage begins with a young elephant, brutally orphaned by poachers, who starts terrorising the countryside. He earns his malevolent name, the Gravedigger, from the humans he kills and then tenderly buries with leaves. Manu, the studious son of a rice...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Solar
    VINTAGE EARTH - Change the story. Novels to transform our relationship with the natural world. Beard sank into a gloom of inattention, not because the planet was in peril - that moronic word again - but because someone was telling him it was with such enthusiasm. Michael Beard is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist whose best work is behind him. He...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Mermaid of Black Conch
    VINTAGE EARTH - A series of transformative novels with the environment at their heart. β€˜His stomach trembled with desire and fear and wonder because he knew what he'd seen. A woman. Right there, in the water’ Near the island of Black Conch, a fisherman sings to himself while waiting for a catch. But David attracts a sea-dweller that he never...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Overstory
    Vintage Earth: Change the story. Novels to transform our relationship with the natural world. The Overstory is not set in our world with trees in it; it's a world of trees, where humans have just arrived. This is the story of a group of strangers, each summoned in different ways by the natural world, brought together to save it from...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Last Quarter of the Moon
    VINTAGE EARTH: Change the story. Novels to transform our relationship with the natural world. 'A long-time confidante of the rain and snow, I am ninety years old. The rain and snow have weathered me, and I too have weathered them.' At the end of the twentieth century, an old woman sits among the birch trees and reflects on the joys...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono receives high praise from renowned literary figures. Andre Malraux considers him one of the greatest writers of his generation, while Jean d'Ormesson equates him with literary giants like Chateaubriand and Proust. Henry Miller highlights how Giono's work captures the "song of the world," resonating deeply with sensitive readers.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781784878016

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 07 July 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by Barbara Bray
  • Introduction by Richard Mabey
  • Illustrated by Harry Brockway
  • Translated by Barbara Bray

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 5.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 65g

Pages: 64

About the Author

Jean Giono (Author) Jean Giono was born in 1895 in Manosque, Provence, and lived there most of his life. He supported his family working as a bank clerk for eighteen years before his first two novels were published, thanks to the generosity of Andre Gide, to critical acclaim. He went on to write thirty novels, including The Horseman on the Roof, and numerous essays and stories. In 1953, the year in which he wrote The Man who Planted Trees, he was awarded the Prix Monegasque for his collective work. Jean Giono died in October 1970. Harry Brockway (Illustrator) Harry Brockway was born in 1958 and studied sculpture at Kingston Art School and at the Royal Academy, where he learned engraving. He makes a living as a stonemason as well as a wood engraver.

More from General Fiction

View all
  • Yesteryear
    A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE β€” Nita Prose WICKEDLY FUNNY, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE β€” Abigail Dean INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE β€” Ashley Audrain SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS β€” Clare Mackintosh The Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale β€” Hannah Deitch My name was Natalie Heller...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people β€” but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    A Court of Splintered Harmony
    Romance, danger, and intrigue await you in the breathtaking sixth book in the #1 bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series.What was broken will be remade.Deep in the heart of the continent, Koschei the Deathless is stirring. Though he's been bound to a mountain lake for millennia, the insidious threat of his return now spreads across the Fae territories,...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Threshing Day
    The next book in the blockbuster Empyrean series, Threshing DayΒ contains thirteen stories starring your favorite characters and their dragons. The deluxe first edition includes sixteen beautiful original full-color illustrations by artist Joe Requeza.Β  Β  Rebecca Yarros is the #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of over twenty novels, including Fourth Wing and In the...
    Hardback
    $6999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses Paperback Box Set (5 books)
    All five of the Court of Thorns and Roses paperbacks packaged together in a gorgeous box set. "Passionate, violent, sexy and daring." β€”USA TODAY on A Court of Thorns and Roses Feyre is a huntress. The skin of a wolf would bring enough gold to feed her sisters for a month. But the life of a magical creature comes at...
    Set
    $9999
    Elsewhere:
    $12495
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Assassin’s Apprentice
    Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb marks the beginning of an extraordinary adventure in the rich and immersive world of the Six Duchies. Set against the backdrop of a kingdom teetering on the brink of civil war, this gripping tale introduces readers to FitzChivalry Farseer, a royal bastard whose existence threatens the stability of the crown. When the crown prince's secret...
    Paperback
    $1900
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Chain Reaction
    Jack Reacher, \"the coolest continuing series character\" (Stephen King), returns in a brand new, pulse-pounding read from Lee and Andrew Child. The world’s bestselling hero is back in a brand new, high-octane adventure! β€˜She knew that finding Reacher would not be easy . . .’ Washington DC. General Susan Turner needs help from the only guy she knows will get...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Things We Never Say
    Internationally bestselling and prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout's new novel tells the story of a chance incident in a man's lifeβ€”a poignant meditation on loneliness, friendship, and free will in a capsizing world. Artie Dam is a man with a secret. He spends his days teaching history to high schoolers, expanding their young minds, correcting their casual cruelties, and lending a...
    Hardback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • A Court of Wings and Ruin
    The third instalment of the GLOBAL PHENOMENON, romantic fantasy epic and TikTok sensation, ACOTAR. From multi-million and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas. In A Court of Wings and Ruin, the gripping third book of the ACOTAR series, Feyre Archeron faces the ultimate battle for her world. Having returned to the Spring Court, she is determined to gather...
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • A Court of Mist and Fury
    A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas continues Feyre Archeron's epic journey in the world of the High Fae. Having survived the brutal trials under the Mountain, Feyre returns to the Spring Court. Though she now possesses the immortal powers of the High Fae, the traumatic experiences have left scars on her human heart. Haunted by the...
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 160,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!