An inspiring blend of nature writing and memoir that explores nature's crucial role in our emotional and mental health

Bats can hear shapes, plants can eat light, and bees can dance maps. When his life took him to a painfully dark place, the poet behind The CryptoNaturalist, Jarod K. Anderson, found comfort and redemption in these facts and the shift in perspective that comes from paying a new kind of attention to nature.

Something in the Woods Loves You tells the story of the darkest stretch of a young person's life, and how deliberate and meditative encounters with plants and animals helped him see the light at every turn. Ranging from optimistic contemplations of mortality to appreciations of a single mushroom, Anderson has written a lyrical love letter to the natural world and given us the tools to see it all anew.

Bats can hear shapes.

Plants can eat light.

Bees can dance maps.

We can hold all these ideas at once

and feel both heavy and weightless

with the absurd beauty of it all.

This three-book poetry collection is comprised of Field Guide to the Haunted Forest (2020), Love Notes from the Hollow Tree (2022), and Leaf Litter (2023), collectively known as The Haunted Forest Trilogy. Jarod K. Anderson's best-selling nature poetry is celebrated by readers for its clarity, insight, and warmth. Vivid and approachable, the work gathered here invites readers to rediscover commonplace wonders and find new meaning in topics ranging from moss to mortality.

The poems in this trilogy highlight our connection to a living universe and affirm our place in a wilderness worthy of our love.

This poetry collection celebrates the impossible truths of the natural world and the magic that hides in plain sight. Poet and podcaster Jarod K. Anderson (creator of The CryptoNaturalist Podcast) has built a large audience of social media followers and podcast listeners with his strange, vibrant appreciations of nature. Ranging from contemplations of mortality to appreciations of single-celled organisms, the poems in this collection highlight our connection to a living universe and affirm our place in a wilderness worthy of our love.

Poet and podcaster Jarod K. Anderson (creator of The CryptoNaturalist Podcast and author of Field Guide to the Haunted Forest) contemplates mental health and celebrates the natural world with warmth and humor. The poetry and prose in this collection are an eclectic mix unified by themes of stubborn hope and empathy. Vivid and approachable, the work gathered here invites readers to rediscover commonplace wonders and find new beauty in topics ranging from owls to atoms. The poems in this collection highlight our connection to a living universe and affirm our place in a wilderness worthy of our love.

A poignant meditation on surviving the darkest recesses of human nature . . . a lyrical love letter to how 'imaginative empathy' heals and harmonizes our relationship to ourselves, to each other, to the wonder of being alive.--The Marginalian

Bats can hear shapes, plants can eat light, and bees can dance maps. When his life took him to a painfully dark place, the poet behind The CryptoNaturalist, Jarod K. Anderson, found comfort and redemption in these facts and the shift in perspective that comes from paying a new kind of attention to nature.

Something in the Woods Loves You tells the story of the darkest stretch of a young person's life, and how deliberate and meditative encounters with plants and animals helped him see the light at every turn. Ranging from optimistic contemplations of mortality to appreciations of a single mushroom, Anderson has written a lyrical love letter to the natural world and given us the tools to see it all anew.