Awards

• AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books Longlist
• Junior Library Guild Selection

Overview

Science writer and plant expert Rebecca E. Hirsch presents fun and gross facts about a variety of plants along with explaining the science behind why they do what they do. Featured plants include the Venus Flytrap, an African tree that houses stinging ants to protect itself from hungry animals, a vampire vine that sucks nutrients from other plants, and fiendishly invasive kudzu.

Full Product Details

9781541526709

Table of Contents

Reviews

Large, eye-catching color photos will immediately attract readers to this slim but information-packed book of fascinating stories about the ways in which deadly plants defend themselves or even go on the offensive. Plants as varied as Australia's stinging tree, supposedly the 'most painful plant in the world'; North America's Venus flytrap; and Asia's common kudzu are mentioned. Eastern African elephants that attempt to eat whistling thorn acacia trees will be painfully stung by the tree's resident biting ants, while, in Borneo, the insects and small mammals attracted by the nectar in the king pitcher plant's toilet-shaped bowl often fall in and are devoured. Plenty of plants use subterfuge: dead horse arum lily cleverly tricks flies into pollinating it by mimicking an animal corpse, while sticky, hooked seeds from birdcatcher trees attach to birds, preventing flight, often killing them. Brief facts about each plant appear in sidebars, and back matter includes author's and source notes, additional resources, and an index. Curious readers will be eager to learn more about these creepy plants.--Booklist -- Journal

"""Curious readers will be eager to learn more about these creepy plants.""--Booklist -- (2/13/2019 12:00:00 AM)"

Large, eye-catching color photos will immediately attract readers to this slim but information-packed book of fascinating stories about the ways in which deadly plants defend themselves or even go on the offensive. Plants as varied as Australia's stinging tree, supposedly the 'most painful plant in the world'; North America's Venus flytrap; and Asia's common kudzu are mentioned. Eastern African elephants that attempt to eat whistling thorn acacia trees will be painfully stung by the tree's resident biting ants, while, in Borneo, the insects and small mammals attracted by the nectar in the king pitcher plant's toilet-shaped bowl often fall in and are devoured. Plenty of plants use subterfuge: dead horse arum lily cleverly tricks flies into pollinating it by mimicking an animal corpse, while sticky, hooked seeds from birdcatcher trees attach to birds, preventing flight, often killing them. Brief facts about each plant appear in sidebars, and back matter includes author's and source notes, additional resources, and an index. Curious readers will be eager to learn more about these creepy plants. --Booklist -- (2/13/2019 12:00:00 AM)

Large, eye-catching color photos will immediately attract readers to this slim but information-packed book of fascinating stories about the ways in which deadly plants defend themselves or even go on the offensive. Plants as varied as Australia's stinging tree, supposedly the 'most painful plant in the world'; North America's Venus flytrap; and Asia's common kudzu are mentioned. Eastern African elephants that attempt to eat whistling thorn acacia trees will be painfully stung by the tree's resident biting ants, while, in Borneo, the insects and small mammals attracted by the nectar in the king pitcher plant's toilet-shaped bowl often fall in and are devoured. Plenty of plants use subterfuge: dead horse arum lily cleverly tricks flies into pollinating it by mimicking an animal corpse, while sticky, hooked seeds from birdcatcher trees attach to birds, preventing flight, often killing them. Brief facts about each plant appear in sidebars, and back matter includes author's and source notes, additional resources, and an index. Curious readers will be eager to learn more about these creepy plants. --Booklist --Journal

Author Information

Rebecca E. Hirsch is an award- winning children's author with a PhD in plant biology. Her picture books include Plants Can't Sit Still and Night Creatures: Animals That Swoop, Crawl, and Creep while You Sleep. She lives with her husband and three children in State College, Pennsylvania. You can visit her online at rebeccahirsch.com.

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