One of the first things you notice about the Sonoran Desert (where I live) is the extreme variety of plants, some of which are pretty bizarre. Take, for example, trees with green bark instead of leaves or a plant that looks like a giant carrot root sticking upside down out of the ground (a boojum tree). One of the most iconic, the saguaro cactus, is even featured in the book, Peculiar Plants (Read Me!: Extreme Nature)
Each unusual plant is featured in a two-page spread with big color photographs and a “Did You Know?” sidebar with an interesting fact about each. Plants range from a giant sequoia to a tiny edelweiss. Note: technically the giant kelp in the book are actually algae, which are now sometimes classified as protists rather than plants.
The book wraps up with a “What Am I?” quiz to help reinforce learning. It also has a glossary and places to “Find Out More.”
Peculiar Plants would be a great book to accompany a unit on plants and especially to entice struggling readers to learn more about these fascinating oddities of nature.
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Heinemann-Raintree (August 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1410947033
ISBN-13: 978-1410947031
Book was provided for review purposes.
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this looks like a cool book! I love peculiar plants almost as much as I like bizarre bugs. Thanks for sharing this.
We saw some unusual succulents at a garden yesterday, which is what inspired me to pick up the book. Plants can be so fascinating.
The kelp link was timely–I’m working on an oceans book for K-2! I’m starting kelp tomorrow. With the short word count, it will be a couple of sentences. I finished deserts today and thought about you. The book looks fun, too!
Shirley
Shirley,
Good luck on that oceans book. Sounds like an excuse for a trip to the beach to me 🙂