Just So Stories

New South Books

From Albatros Books/Media are two absolutely delightful new titles. Both about plants, both non-fiction, both exquisitely designed but providing lower-middle primary kiddos with information about plants from two different angles.

How Plants Talk – Helena Haraštová. Illustrated by Linh Dao 9788000068114 / 1 August 2023 AUD$24.99, NZD$29.99

Your Smalls will be fascinated to see this charming book which provides us with an insight into how plants communicate with each other. In an attractive format of smaller size with rounded corners and lift-the-flaps for additional facts, this will be a huge hit with readers as they follow the emotional ups and downs as some potted plants are transported from one flower shop to another.

It involves their anxieties communicated via their root systems, their warnings of danger to each other e.g. giving off a smell when being attacked by a caterpillar. Their reactions to fear include drooping leaves and shedding flowers, in order to conserve their energy.

Then there’s settling into the new locations, and a general scrimmage for nutrients to help them recuperate from the stresses of the move. Finally, we learn that when plants are happy their fragrances are stronger and different to the danger signals. Some scents are to attract pollinators, others purely to communicate.

Each spread has a chunk of information plus numerous speech bubbles to convey the messages from the plants. The lift-the-flaps contain special messages from the plants – what fun!

What a splendid inquiry you could instigate with some action research in a class of Smalls, springboarding from this one. It’s an excellent way to bring some new life to those tired old units on Living Things in the Biological Sciences strands. The text is very accessible and engaging and together with the illustrations, in a quirky cartoon style, there is a thread of humor throughout.

I love it and I’m happily giving it a green thumbs up of 5 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱.

How Not to Kill Your Plant – Magda N. Garguláková, Lenka Chytilová
Illustrated by Hannah Abbo 9788000069968 / 1 April 2024  AUD$27.99, NZD$32.99

Now this one is more your primer or guidebook for Smalls who want to have their own plants, or for those classrooms (and there are many of them) in which calm is being encouraged with the inclusion of plants. It is just one of many strategies we can employ to create that sense of tranquility, and also to give children responsibitilies in care of living things.

I’ve had house plants of many kinds for the past 50 years, some more successful than others. At each house move, I generally need to give away some because of the expense of cartage but it doesn’t take long to start building them up again. And, then there’s the fact that it’s difficult (and often time/money wasting) to create a more formal garden in rentals, so potplants it is. Our little porch is pretty chock-a-block after two years here. I also always had plants in my libraries, that greenery does wonders (even with Year 9s!).

Even experienced indoor plant enthusiasts will enjoy a browse through this one. It’s divided into sections: Basics of Care, Encyclopedia of Plants (most common varieties for indoors, and green edged pages for quick reference) and Cultivation Practice. It includes a glossary, has concise, most pertinent information in call-out boxes, useful diagrams and really lovely design and illustrations (the plants look very true to life for easy identification).

One of the positives of those Covid days with endless lockdowns was the resurgence of interest in growing things, whether fruit and veg or simply plants for pleasure. I know that many of the classrooms I visit now have multiple plants, and the children take great pleasure in helping to care for them.

This book makes an excellent addition for those kiddos who want to learn more than just tipping some water in. Another great one for growing greenthumbs and another enthusiastic 5 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱 rating from me.

Harper Collins Books

Costa’s Garden – Costa Georgiadis. Illustrated by Brianna Quinn.

December 2024

• ISBN: 9780733343360
• ISBN 10: 0733343368
• Imprint: ABC Books AU
• RRP: $24.99

“I believe in gardening the soil as well as the soul.”

“Gardening is about communication, relationships, routines and life-enrichment.”

Our own living garden gnome, Costa, is well-known to one and all, including children. His passion for all things gardening and sustainable living is just as well-known. His grown-up book, Costa’s World, has been a huge hit and now he brings his passion for nature, gardens and chooks to Smalls in this brightly illustrated narrative non-fiction picture book.

This is the first in a series and the focus is on flowers, which for many of us, has been a topic going well beyond aesthetics for many years. Their function and uses have been an important part of our practices for many of us who spent decades immersed in our Grass Roots magazines, and now, Costa brings his expansive knowledge to children at a level they can easily grasp.

There have been numerous NF books for children, particularly in recent years, on the topic of self-sufficiency, gardening for pleasure and for practicality, and the importance of biodiversity with our pollinators, microcosms and the wider implications for the survival of humanity. This one, and the planned successive titles, will add to this canon of ‘green’ kids’ lit.

While I found this a little repetitive and lacklustre in some ways, it certainly conveys the intended message and, like so many other titles, with a celebrity name on the cover, will be readily picked up by adults to add to a child’s bookshelf. And I have to say that Brianna Quinlan’s illos are delightfully apt, adding charm to the entirety. They even make the Boy from Bondi’s hirsuteness look bearable 😉. I’m giving it a 3 🌸🌸🌸 rating.