This educational picture book takes a sing-song approach, using rhyming verse to engage young readers in learning the defense mechanisms of 12 different plants. The text, appropriately, is more concerned with what the plants do than how. Each double-page spread features a specimen me familiar, like the cactus, poison ivy, and cotton plants; some less so, like sand verbena, sticky geranium, and the manchineel ing what it does best, generally centered in a wide landscape, made inviting by Evans' black-ink and watercolor illustrations. Pages fit a jaunty couplet into one corner, while in another, a slightly smaller font contextualizes the scene with straightforward information. Children will be fascinated to learn that plants have more agency than they realized, utilizing camouflage, chemical signals, needling barbs, and more to defend themselves. Back matter ich also includes literacy support and a "STEAM challenge" activity llects all the subjects into a neat grid, organizing the plants into four groups: those that "act tough," "play tricks," "find helpers," and "use chemicals." A colorful, age-appropriate gateway to a deeper understanding of plant life.

Running away not being an option, plants have developed an arsenal of defenses against animal attacks.Pairing notes in prose to rhymed couplets, Amstutz tallies nearly a dozen ways that plants deliver comeuppances to would-be munchers. Most involve poisons or irritants, but strategies also include camouflage (stone plants), coating leaves with sand (sand verbena), or even providing homes for aggressive ants (the whistling thorn acacia). Willows can make their leaves unpalatable to tent caterpillars; cotton attacked by insect pests sends a chemical invitation to wasps; and woe betides a bug that lands among sticky geraniums, which "make oodles of thick, sticky glue. / Intruders soon find themselves trapped in the goo." Along with reasonably recognizable plant specimens, Evans depicts otherwise accurately drawn animals, from giraffes to grasshoppers, with comically dismayed expressions as they are stymied. Groups of human figures in painted scenes-of picnickers oblivious to marauding raccoons and a troop of hikers cowering away from nettles and poison ivy-are racially diverse. Select flora and fauna feature in a photo gallery at the end, which is followed by suggestions for STEAM extension activities. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-21-inch double-page spreads viewed at 75% of actual size.)Lighthearted but cogent fare for young naturalists and foragers. (Informational picture book. 7-10)

Gr 2-4 Full-page cartoon illustrations accompanied by rhyming text teach readers how to recognize and identify plants, including poison ivy, nettle, and poison oak. Dark-skinned and light-skinned children are depicted throughout the text. The illustration of a Boy Scout Troop hiking through the woods shows brown-skinned scouts with textured hair. The "Science Connection" section provides activities for teachers, educators, and/or group leaders to share with their students. "Literacy Connection" features tips for reading aloud and a short question and answer with Amstutz and Evans. A ten-word glossary is also included. Students are encouraged to design a plant and create a model of it. "Let's Have a Plant Party" is available online as a student handout, with a diagram. Surprising plant facts will engage readers: "Some fold their leaves and pretend to be dead, in hopes that a predator might be misled"; "When cotton plants are being eaten by caterpillars, they send out an "SOS signal"an invisible cloud of chemicalsinto the air." VERDICT Teachers and educators looking for unique material to explain plant science might want to give this title a try. Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker P.L., OH