Sure to excite curious nature lovers, Planting Our World is overflowing with fascinating "green" fare. The reader learns of a proposal to plant one trillion trees in the hopes of mitigating the effects of climate change; about the red spruces whose timber has made Stradivarius violins the most beloved in the world; about Charles Dickens's first trip to New York City, in which he was perplexed by the large numbers of pigs running amuck in the streets. Humming with unconventional notions and strange facts—one famous violin is said to bear the imprint of a boot worn by Napoleon, who kicked it in frustration when attempting to play—Mancuso's book is a love letter not only to the plant world but to learning itself. (BH)