Luscious Books About Plants

Research is coming out about people comfort buying during the coronavirus, for a short-lived burst of good emotions. I'm just as prone to emotional shopping as the next person, and usually shop when I'm lesson planning. So instead of buying, I'm working on just making a list right now of yummy-luscious books about plants. Our Science topic this upcoming year is Botany!

If you're teaching the Botany block, there are several excellent books you can use to frame the study. I personally like Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac's Keepers of Life: Discovering Plants through Native American Stories and Earth Activities for Children, plus Thomas Elpel's excellent plant identification resources: Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification, Shanleya's Quest, and the Patterns in Plants Card Game.

for block I

for block II

However, there are lots of wonderful trade books about plants that I would like to incorporate into our study. Here are some I've seen that look especially appetizing. Let me know if you have others you suggest!!!!

Note About Fungus:
If we go with the theory that there are Five Kingdoms of Life, and we do the Microbes in grade 7, the Plants in grade 5/6, and the Animals in grade 4, Fungus never gets any time. I think that's why most people chuck it in with plants (Charles Kovacs does this). However, Fungus is NOT a plant, and I think that our lumping it as such just makes things confusing for students. When you look at the Tree of Life, there's some confusion about Fungus... did it branch off of plants early or did it branch off of animals early. A Fungus on a cellular level has things in common with both. So, I think it makes the most sense to put it in the Microbes study, since it goes with the questions of Origins of Life and it requires more sophisticated cell-level understandings.

Morning Glories by Sylvia Johnson

Perfectly Peculiar Plants
by Chris Thorogood

Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring The Earth To Life
by Molly Bang

Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas
by Molly Bang

Coral Reefs: A Journey Through an Aquatic World Full of Wonder
by Jason Chin
coral polyp & algae

One Night in the Coral Sea
by Sneed B. Collard III

An Ocean Garden: The Secret Life of Seaweed
by Josie Iselin

A Seed is Sleepy
by Dianna Hutts Aston

Seeds Move!
by Robin Page

Seed Leaf Flower Fruit
by Maryjo Koch

POLLEN: Darwin's 130-Year Prediction
by Darcy Pattison

Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas
by Cheryl Bardoe

Redwoods
by Jason Chin

Ancient Ones: The World of the Old-Growth Douglas Fir
by Barbara Bash

Tree of Life: The World of the African Baobab
by Barbara Bash

In The Heart of the Village: The World of the Indian Banyan Tree
by Barbara Bash

Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus
by Barbara Bash

Cactus Hotel
by Brenda Guiberson

One Day in the Alpine Tundra
by Jean Craighead George

One Day in the Tropical Rain Forest
by Jean Craighead George

The Forest in the Clouds
by Sneed B. Collard III
cloud forest of Costa Rica

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly

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