Catch Goldfarb’s tome about beavers at Auntie’s

Beavers have a long and storied history in North America. At one time, they were targets of mountain men intent of taking advantage of European fashion, beaver pelts proving the perfect material for making a certain kind of top hat.

Beaver dams traditionally have been ecologically beneficial, too, particularly to the life forms that flourished in the resulting pools.

The whole range of what beavers provide, not to mention their intrinsic value beyond their pelts, can be found in "Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter" (Chelsea Green Publishing Company, $24.95 hardback), a nonfiction book written by Ben Goldfarb. Described on his own website as "an independent environmental journalist, editor, and fiction writer," Goldfarb writes on any number of science and wildlife conservation issues.

Here's one review of Goldfarb's book "Eager" by the Washington Post: "Goldfarb has built a masterpiece of a treatise on the natural world, how that world stands now and how it could be in the future if we protect beaver populations. He gives us abundant reasons to respect environment-restoring beavers and their behaviors, for their own good and for ours."

Goldfarb will read from his book, and then sign copies, at 7 p.m. Saturday at Auntie's Bookstore.

And why not? Eager-beaver readers are always welcome at Auntie's.