Hi Rich, I am looking for a kid friendly yet still rather scientific and not just superficial plant ID and/or botany book. Do you have any recommendations? I have a 12 y o in mind who is living on the West Coast USDA zone 8-10. But any other regions would be great for learning and/or traveling. If you know of any other fun herb or plant books for kids/teens/young adults I’d also appreciate your recommendations. Thank you very much and I hope to see you in our – sadly last – meet n greet in July. Annette

Rich said: Hmmm, I think that depends a lot on the 12 year old. Some 12 years olds can just go ahead and learn to use the adult field guides, no problem - so in my area, for instance I would introduce them to Symond's guides for the woody plants, and Newcomb's for herbaceous plants -though something like Peterson's for the wildflowers / herbaceous plants is a bit simpler than Newcomb's so may be a better choice. But those are all Northeast-specific. I'd suggest getting in touch with a local / West coast botanical society or botanical garden to see what would be more appropriate locally. For a botany book (not ID) How Plants Work by Blackmore may be a good choice if they are a reader / bookworm type! I don't think it is a kids' book per se but it is in a simple and easy to read format, and doesn't get overly technical. I hope this helps!