... and wish they'd love you back, here are some great reads for you. Though I dream of being a plant parent, my relationship with plants is a little less satisfying. Think overwatered, underwatered, neglected, floppy, dried-up, sad. I'm trying to be better! But in the meantime, here are some great books about kids who love their plants, and find a best friend in the meantime!
By Zoe Persico
Toronto, ON: Tundra Books, 2025. Comic. 223 pages.
11-year-old Adara and her dad are moving across the country from California to Michigan to live with her grandmother. Things have been hard since her mom passed away. It's harder to talk to her dad, she misses her mom, and now she's in a new home where everything is unfamiliar. Soon, she discovers she shares a special talent with her late mother - she can talk to plants! Adara connects with a young succulent named Perle, and starts to open up and process her grief. This lush, leafy read makes for a lovely graphic novel.
Written by Becky Scharnhorst
Illustrated by Jiarui Jiang
New York: Margaret K. Elderry Books, 2025. Picture Book.
Spencer and his mom have just moved into a new house, and his mom is worried that he won't have any friends. But right away, he finds a new friend - a potted plant in a box labeled "free." His plant friends might not be as talkative as Spencer, but they are great listeners. In fact, Spencer finds new friends just about everywhere he goes. Even at the park, where he meets a girl named Daisy who is talking to her friend, the caterpillar.
By Matthew Rivera
New York: Neal Porter Books, 2024. Picture book.
Manny comes from a long line of gardeners, and he loves to help his Dad care for plants --like the jungle of plants in their apartment! Manny asks for his own plant to care for, and though he tries his best it soon wilts and shows signs of distress. But Manny remembers his promise to care for his amigo, and he studies the right way to do it. Young readers will be infected by the desire to care for new plants after reading this book!
Written by Beth Ferry
Illustrated by Claire Keane
New York: Simon & Schuster, 2024. Picture Book.
Unlike her parents, Prunella is not born with a green thumb. Instead, hers is purple. Her talent lies in growing poisonous, noxious, spiky, dangerous plants. Though her parents are supportive of her strange proclivity, the neighborhood kids are a little wary. Until one day, a boy wanders into her garden and seems sincerely curious about Prunella's garden and then introduces her a group of young botanists, mycologists, and entomologists who share her interests. Prunella finds human friends, but it's her plants that get her there.
By Christy Mandin
New York: Orchard Books, 2024. Picture Book.
Millie Fleur La Fae and her mother move into the decrepit old house on the edge of Garden Glen --a town that is otherwise "picture perfect." They waste no time in doing things their own way, and Millie sets to work planting a very unique and very poisonous garden. The town elders deride her garden which is not as perfect as the others in town, but the other kids in town show interest in how Millie is doing things. And before long all the gardens in town are a little more poisonous, and Millie has a host of new friends.
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