Susan Apps-Bodilly
Timber by Susan Apps-Bodilly

Susan Apps-Bod­il­ly
co-authored with Jer­ry Apps
Wis­con­sin His­tor­i­cal Soci­ety Press
Pub­lished 19 Novem­ber 2024
Grades 3 through 8
152 pages
ISBN 978–1976600357

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Timber!

A Northwoods Story of Lumberjacks, Logging, and the Land

A well-illus­trat­ed children’s his­to­ry of the log­ging boom in the 19th cen­tu­ry and the con­ser­va­tion efforts that followed.

How did the log­ging boom begin? What was it like to work in the woods? What hap­pened to the land after the trees were cut down? The lat­est book for young read­ers from father-daugh­ter duo Jer­ry Apps and Susan Apps-Bod­il­ly explores the ori­gin sto­ry of Wisconsin’s log­ging boom, the dev­as­ta­tion it caused to the land, and the extra­or­di­nary efforts to restore the cutover land and log sustainably. 

Tim­ber! helps young read­ers exam­ine a com­plex and piv­otal chap­ter in our state and nation’s his­to­ry, cov­er­ing a wide range of top­ics, including:

  • how Native peo­ple used, shared, and relied on nat­ur­al resources for thou­sands of years
  • the forced removal of Native peo­ple from forest­ed lands
  • how the lum­ber indus­try made pos­si­ble the west­ward expan­sion of the Unit­ed States
  • what it was like to work in a log­ging camp, on a log dri­ve, and inside a sawmill
  • the roles on a log­ging team, from sawyer to cook
  • the destruc­tive lega­cy of ear­ly log­ging prac­tices and ear­ly efforts to restore the land
  • the emer­gence of sus­tain­able forestry practices

This com­pre­hen­sive yet easy-to-read his­to­ry includes let­ters, post­cards, and oth­er pri­ma­ry sources paired with dis­cus­sion ques­tions designed to engage young read­ers’ cre­ativ­i­ty and crit­i­cal-think­ing skills. Tim­ber! also fea­tures more than 100 images, a glos­sary, sug­gest­ed activ­i­ties, and an exten­sive list of relat­ed resources, includ­ing books, web­sites, teach­ing mate­ri­als, muse­ums, and out­door places to vis­it. Tim­ber! will inspire read­ers of all ages to explore, pro­tect, and learn about trees and forests in their own communities.

Timber A Northwoods Story of Lumberjacks, Logging, and the Land
a sam­ple page from Tim­ber! by Susan Apps-Bod­il­ly and Jer­ry Apps,
pub­lished by Wis­con­sin His­tor­i­cal Soci­ety Press. Copy­right © 2024. All rights reserved.

Resources

Les­son Plan: “Life in a Lum­ber Camp,” Wis­con­sin His­tor­i­cal Society