A Tree is a Time Machine

by Rob Sears, Tom Sears (illustrator)

Slow down and see the big picture in this warm, witty and beautifully illustrated book for children and adults inviting us to wonder at our precious time on Earth.

You are invited to travel through the ages in the company of a 4,000-year-old yew tree named Eunice, whose perspective on time is very different from our own. Her wisdom will get you why is humanity in such a rush lately? Why does time fly and sometimes drag? And how can the actions of one generation change things for those who follow?

Guiding you on a journey from the extremely long past to the head-spinning present and the unshaped future, Eunice reminds us that in a world that seems to be travelling at warp speed, taking your time is sometimes the best thing you can do. After all, some of the most important things in life can't be sped up.

A Tree is a Time Machine is an antidote to uncertain times, and the perfect gift for anyone who has ever felt like they just want the world to slow down.

By the authors of The Biggest Footprint, winner of the James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Children's Nature Writing 2022.

79 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication September 25, 2025

About the author

Rob lives and works in Finsbury Park in London with his cat, dog and wife. His books tend to take an irreverent and fun approach to things that we usually talk about with our Serious Voices, such as monstrous world leaders and the environmental omnicrisis we're living through.

His latest work is The Biggest Footprint, an illustrated book that tells the story of humanity's impact on nature through the character of the mega human, a 3km-tall blue giant made out of every human on earth. It's his first book for kids and adults, and aims to give readers a new perspective on the big data about our species.

Previously Rob wrote a series of hit humour books about world leaders, including The Beautiful Poetry of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin Life Coach. His political writing has appeared in McSweeney's, The New Statesman, the Guardian and Index on Censorship magazine, and he is the co-creator of Working for the Big Man, a sitcom for Audible starring Kevin Eldon, Felicity Montagu and Mitch Benn.