Plantopedia; Adrienne Barman

Plantopedia is the follow up to the brilliant Creaturepedia by author Adrienne Barman. Welcome to the wild, wonderful and weird world of plants. This is 200 pages of plant heaven, featuring the deadly and the dangerous, the magical and the mysterious, the confused and the clever, the helpful and the historical, the useful and the unusual and all manner of others.

Plantopedia organises the plants, flowers, weeds and trees by the traits and characteristics that make them stand out. I love this method of organisation and it makes things so much more relevant, relatable and accessible to young readers. Readers can dive into categories including; The Confused Fruits, The Giants, The Lookalikes, The Prickly, The Stinkers, The Tropical, and my two favourites, The Magical and The Poisoners.

Categories are organised in alphabetical order and there is an illustrated double page contents which lists all the various categories and the page numbers on which they can be found. There is also an index if you want to quickly find a certain plant. An appendix features many different types of leaves which includes illustrations, the fancy names of each particular leaf, the defining characteristic and a plant on which the leaf can be found. A glossary of plant themed words is a lovely addition and will expand the readers knowledge of words including biennial, horticulture, pollination and tendril.

The book is gorgeous to look at. Each plant is carefully illustrated and vibrant colours bring the plants and pages to life. Each illustration is unique and they are full of warmth, charm and humour. Each plant has its name written in bold next to its illustration and short interesting facts and figures are included in many instances. The attention to detail is superb and the inclusion of animals and people into many of the scenes just adds to the fun and appeal of this book.

Sometimes you read a book and you just know that it will be one that you will go back to time and time again, this is one of those books. Everything about it is beautiful. The pages are thick and it comes with its own fancy ribbon page marker too. A book to delight readers who have any interest in the plants of this world. Plantopedia will provide endless hours of enjoyment and readers will be going back to read this time and time and time again.

Recommended for 5+.