The Stuff That Stuff Is Made Of: Things We Make With Plants

About this book

Did you know that there’s cork in spacecraft? And that you can find rice in the mortar of part of the Great Wall of China?

Humans have used plants in ingenious ways to create incredible things for thousands of years. This book celebrates 30 plants and the amazing things we make with them.  

This fascinating non-fiction book is packed with information. From rubber to cork, henna and beech, there are so many uses for plants. And of course, we love eating some of them too! Vanilla, tea, potato, and pumpkin are a few of the foodstuffs explored. 

The sad histories of some plants - like the farming of cotton and sugarcane depending on enslaved peoples, for example - isn’t shied away from, but the content is age-appropriate.  

The colour illustrations are beautifully detailed, with a page dedicated to the plant, and the facing page showing its history and uses. This is a book to wonder at, and should renew a love of plants and nature in every reader.