Tag Archives: Plants

Elem. – Best Buds

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Scharnhorst, Becky. Best Buds. Illustrated by Jiarui Jiang. Margaret K. McElderry Books. 2025. 978-1-66596-093-9. $19.99. Gr. PreK-3

Moved into a new town, Spencer’s mom is worried about him making new friends. Spencer isn’t worried, as he has already met Fred, who is a great listener. Fred is also a house plant. Spencer makes lots of new friends, some who listen well and others who are jokers… and they are all plants. While Spencer’s mom worries, Spencer knows that unexpected friendship can bloom in the most magical ways.

THOUGHTS: This is an adorable story about friendship, those between a boy and his plants and a boy making friends with another person! The illustrations are beautifully created, giving life to this book in a miraculous way.

Picture Book

Elem. – Ready, Set, Grow – Plants

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Ruby, Rex. Ready, Set, Grow: Plants. Bearport Publishing, 2025. $21.02 each. $126.12 set of 6. 24 p. Grades 2-5.

An Apple Grows. 979-8-892-32722-0.
A Coconut Grows. 979-8-892-32723-7.
A Cranberry Grows. 979-8-892-32724-4.
An Oak Tree Grows. 979-8-892-32725-1.
A Pumpkin Grows. 979-8-892-32726-8.
A Sunflower Grows. 979-8-892-32727-5. 

In An Apple Grows the book follows the apple from the time it’s a small seed, until it turns into the fruit that we know and eat. The book goes over the steps in simple sentences, and uses bright, colorful pictures to explain the different stages in growing an apple. There is a table of contents as well as a glossary found within each book. There are apple facts found at the end of the book, and there is a short list of recommended reading as well. 

THOUGHTS: This series would be a great introduction to nonfiction for any reader, or would be useful for an introduction to different kinds of foods/plants. 

634 Orchards, fruits, forestry

YA – Predatory Creatures

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Goldsmith, Amy. Predatory Creatures. Delacorte Press, 2025. 978-0-593-81431-4. 432 p. Grades 9-12. 

Amy Goldsmith’s Predatory Creatures sweeps readers onto the Banebury, a luxury train journeying across Europe where Lara Williams has just landed her dream summer job as a waitress. Hoping to earn money before backpacking home, Lara is determined to make the most of her new adventure—even if it means working alongside her estranged ex-friend Rhys. But the trip takes a sinister turn when two mysterious carriages carrying a lush greenhouse of rare plants are secretly attached in the night, along with two enigmatic siblings whose presence feels far from ordinary. What begins as a glamorous escape quickly spirals into a dark, fast-paced thriller. Strange plants start appearing in passengers’ rooms, people vanish, and whispers of the Banebury’s deadly cargo grow harder to ignore. 

THOUGHTS: Goldsmith masterfully blends gothic atmosphere with dark fantasy, weaving a tale of survival, secrets, and the danger lurking beneath beauty’s surface. Perfect for fans of eerie thrillers and fantastical mysteries, Predatory Creatures is a recommended purchase for libraries where fantasy and supernatural suspense are popular.

Fantasy

Elem. – Millie Fleur Saves the Night

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Mandin, Christy. Millie Fleur Saves the Night. Cartwheel Books, 2025. 978-1-339-02337-3. 40 p. $18.99. Grades K-3.

Millie Fleur finally has her Day Garden in order, but unfortunately her Moon Garden has been suffering. The residents of Garden Glen are afraid of the dark and have their lights on, streetlamps lit, and carry lanterns around after dark. This is causing too much light pollution for Millie Fleur’s night-time plants and her friend The Dark. She assures the townspeople that “The Dark isn’t scary… You just have to get to know her!” and invites her classmates to visit her Moon Garden without their lanterns. They are delighted to find the wondrous plants and animals that come out at night. With their help, Garden Glen continues to branch out of its comfort zone and embrace change.

THOUGHTS: I highly recommend this and the first book, Millie Fleur’s Poison Garden. They are the perfect pair for students who love plants, spooks, and anything just a little weird. 

Picture Book

Elem. – Hello, Sun!

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Watkins, Lala. Hello, Sun! Beginner Books, 2025. 978-0-593-64621-2. Unpaged. $9.99. Grades PreK-2.

Norbit and his friends are playing outside while the sun is out. They jump, sing, blow bubbles, and play lots of hide and seek. When the sun goes down and the moon comes out, they are able to play new games! The illustrations are extremely bright and colorful and feel very authentic to the feeling of the whole book. In the beginning of the book there is information about Seuss Studios, as well as the author Lala Watkins. At the back of the book, there is a note from the author herself which has some information about how she came up with the idea for the book.

THOUGHTS: This is a great and simple picture book for beginning readers and would make a great read aloud for any PreK classroom.

Picture Book
Beginning Reader

Elem. – Prunella

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Ferry, Beth. Prunella. Illustrated by Claire Keane. Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2024. 978-1-665-92173-2. Unpaged. $18.99. Grades PreK-2. 

Prunella was born with a purple thumb, and while her parents had no idea what that meant they knew she would love plants. And Prunella does love plants, just not the typical plants you can think of. She grows plants like bladderworts, porcupine tomatoes, and venus fly traps! The kids in the neighborhood don’t like Prunella’s garden because it’s prickly and itchy so they stay away from it and her. Prunella seems content with how things are until one day a little boy comes into her garden and asks for help with his venus fly trap. This boy ends up worming his way into Prunella’s garden and the unexpected happens; she makes friends!

THOUGHTS: This is a wonderful story about how friends can come from the most unexpected places! The illustrations are beautiful and the reader may find themselves searching for the plants found within the book. The end papers have the plants that are mentioned in the book with scientific names and descriptions.

Picture Book

Elem. – Here Are the Seeds

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Brown-Wood, JaNay. Here Are the Seeds. Illustrated by Olivia Amoah. Kids Can Press, 2024. 978-1-525-30830-7. Unpaged. $21.99. Grades PreK-2. 

Told in a cumulative tale style format, Here Are the Seeds tells of the journey of two children and the seeds they plant to grow a garden. The story opens with the pair and “the seeds that will help our garden grow.” Over the course of the growing season, the pair discover that their garden will need soil, sun, water, as well as creatures like worms and organisms like mushrooms in order to create an ecosystem in which the seeds will grow and flourish. At various points during the story, the children’s garden will face an obstacle (“Oh No!” the narrator declares). For example, when part of their garden isn’t growing as fast as the other portion of the garden, the pair discover not enough sunlight is reaching a section of the garden. When obstacles are encountered, the children must try to solve the problem. (In the example above, they decide to transplant the poorly growing plants to the sunny portion of the garden). Backmatter includes an explanation of the elements needed to make a garden grow. The text is enhanced by Olivia Amoah’s vibrant and expressive digital illustrations. 

THOUGHTS: The topic and cumulative style format of this title would make it an ideal springtime read aloud. Natural stopping points (the “Oh No” refrain) occur throughout the text, and would allow for student discussion about the problem the children encounter in their garden during the growing season as well as suggestions/predictions about how the children could remedy the problem.

Picture Book

Elem. – Beatrice and Barb

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Jenks Landry, Kate. Beatrice and Barb. Illustrated by Vivian Mineker. Kids Can Press, 2023. 978-1-525-30648-8. $21.99. Unpaged. Grades PreK-2.

For as long as she can remember, Beatrice has wanted a pet. After much begging and negotiating, Beatrice and her mother finally come to an agreement, and Beatrice gets her first pet: a Venus flytrap named Barb. Beatrice takes very good care of her new pet, taking Barb for walks and playing fetch with her. However, despite all of Beatrice’s efforts, Barb begins to wilt and droop. After an unproductive visit to the vet, Beatrice takes Barb to a little plant shop, where a friendly woman named Millicent helps them. Warm, colorful, digitally rendered illustrations complement this heartfelt story of friendship.

THOUGHTS: This is a great title for social-emotional learning collections. Beatrice displays tremendous responsibility for her pet and persists in finding a solution even when everything seems hopeless. In addition, the underlying message about how to take care of the ones we love is a powerful one, as is the idea that we are all special in our own unique ways.

Picture Book

Elem. – Life Cycles (Series NF)

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Life Cycles. The Child’s World, 2023. $24.95 each or $299.40 for Set of 12. Grades 2-4.

Merritt, Robin. The Life Cycle of a Butterfly. 978-1-5038-5837-4.
—. The Life Cycle of a Chicken. 978-1-5038-5842-8.
—. The Life Cycle of a Frog. 978-1-5038-5838-1.
—. The Life Cycle of a Human. 978-1-5038-5870-1.
—. The Life Cycle of a Polar Bear. 978-1-5038-5844-2.
—. The Life Cycle of a Snake. 978-1-5038-5843-5.

Owens, L.L. The Life Cycle of a Clown Fish. 978-1-5038-5841-1.
—. The Life Cycle of a Daisy. 978-1-5038-5869-5.
—. The Life Cycle of a Fern. 978-1-5038-5871-8.
—. The Life Cycle of a Ladybug. 978-1-5038-5872-5.
—. The Life Cycle of a Snail. 978-1-5038-5840-4.
—. The Life Cycle of an Earthworm. 978-1-5038-5839-8.

The Life Cycle series provides readers with information on a variety of plant and animal life cycles. The reviewer read the titles The Life Cycle of a Butterfly and The Life Cycle of a Clown Fish. The Life Cycle of a Butterfly provides information on the transformation from an egg, to a caterpillar, to a butterfly, ending back with the egg. Readers explore the detailed information on the butterfly life cycle, with detailed text, up-close photographs, and bonus facts and charts. The Life Cycle of a Clown Fish provides information on the clown fish species’ life cycle. While there are several different types of clown fish, they all go through the same life cycle. Readers will explore this interesting transformation, with detailed text, beautiful photographs, and bonus facts and charts.

THOUGHTS: An extremely well written and detailed life cycle series on popular plants and animals. This series is unique, as it discusses animals and plants that are popular, but not necessarily discussed.

583-636.5 Plants & Animals

Elem. – Fungi Grow

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Gianferrari, Maria. Fungi Grow. Beach Lane Books, 2023. 978-1-665-90365-3. 40 p. $18.99. Grades 2-5. 

Fungi grow all around us, and this book introduces readers to their mysterious world. Fungi grow from spores which form threads that spread and create a complex network of roots. Mushrooms are the fruit, and they can be found both above and below ground. The lyrical text is supplemented by fact boxes that share additional information about how spores are spread, how some mushrooms can absorb enough water to crack cement, and how fungi are also used to create antibiotics. The gouache watercolor and digital illustrations include a wide variety of labeled fungi. Additionally, many pages also feature word art visualizations of how spores move and grow, detailing how they puff, plop, poof, sprout, branch, poke, splash, swirl, and multiply. Backmatter includes a warning to never eat wild mushrooms until their identity is confirmed by an expert as well as a glossary and a list of blogs and websites for further reading. Information about how fungi help the environment, fun fungi facts, and a diagram of the fungi life cycle are also featured. 

THOUGHTS: There are many books about the life cycles of animals and plants, but this title will fill gaps about how other living things grow, change, and impact the environment. This is a visually interesting title to browse, or share it with science-loving students.  

579.5 Fungi