Just like people and animals, plants need to defend themselves.
They can't scream or run away from danger, but many have developed surprisingly cool and courageous ways to keep themselves safe from pesky bugs, hungry animals and even large-clawed crabs. Plants can stab, poison, drown and even suffocate their predators. Discover the corpse flower, which smells like a combination of rotting wounds, garlic, cheese and sour sweat. Then there is the touch-me-not balsam that explodes, flinging anything that touches it through the air. Plant Attack! The Fascinating Ways Flora Defend Themselves explores 15 different plants and the unique, and sometimes bizarre, ways they defend themselves from predators, including us.
Praise for Erin Silver:
★"Enthralling...Empowers readers to understand their own human coping mechanisms, while colorful, detailed images soaked in softly muted earth tones build a base of strong general knowledge. The challenge for readers young and old will be to see who says 'ew' first! A thoroughly engaging, fact-filled book with audacious and memorable animal responses to predators. A must-have for every library."—School Library Journal, starred review for Mighty Scared
“McLaughlin’s bright and lively digital illustrations depict all the plants on the opening spread. At times, the artwork personifies both flora and fauna, to readers’ delight. Entertaining.”
“Digitally created illustrations are bold, bright and animated, allowing readers to imagine the plants in their typical habitat. Cartoon-style drawings also give them ‘personalities’ to go along with the kid-friendly plant POV paragraphs, a strategy that may help kids remember specific plant attributes. A good introduction to a fascinating aspect of plant biology, highlighting characteristics that many may know little about. Highly recommended.”
“Readers are made aware of 13 plant species and the defense mechanisms they have to protect themselves when faced with danger…Some plants are familiar and others not so. It's always fun to learn something new.”