book cover
English Cymraeg

Green: The Story of Plant Life on Our Planet

by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Emily Sutton

Interest age: 4 to 11
Reading age: 7+

Published by Walker Books, 2023

  • Non-fiction

About this book

This is a lovely picture book which tells us so much about plants, how they work, and how they evolved in the most delightful, exciting manner, and with the most gorgeous, detailed illustrations by Emily Sutton.

The tree the book starts with doesn't look like it's doing much apart from standing there being green, but behind the scenes, it's busy. All is clearly explained in words and pictures. And we also get taken back to the ultimate history, when life first appears on Earth.

The book is as warm as the loveliest story but it's non-fiction, and absolutely full of amazing facts. It's a great book that will work for many different ages from 5+. 

It will particularly suit a curious 7-year-old, but is also ideal for someone starting secondary school or older to help them get the essential biology of photosynthesis and global heating established in their head.

A must-have for a primary school library. It's also a book with a powerful message for our times, sharing that GREEN really is the most important colour in the world.

About the author

Nicola Davies is the author of more than 50 books for children: fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Her work has been published in more than 10 different languages and has won major awards in the UK, US, France, Italy and Germany.

Nicola trained as a zoologist, taking a degree in Natural Sciences from King's College, Cambridge. She spent some years as a field biologist and studied humpback and sperm whales, and bats, before joining the BBC Natural History Unit as a researcher and then presenter.

Following the start of her writing career, Nicola became a senior lecturer in creative writing, at Bath Spa University but has been writing full time for over a decade. She now regularly runs workshops for children and adults to help them find their voices as writers and advocates for nature. In 2017, she was the first recipient of the SLA’s award for Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Non-fiction and in 2018 had four picture books longlisted for the Greenaway Award.

Find out what Nicola Davies is up to as our Writer in Residence

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