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  • Published: 11 June 2024
  • ISBN: 9780593531549
  • Imprint: Rocky Pond Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 208
  • RRP: $30.00

The Botany of Desire Young Readers Edition

Our Surprising Relationship with Plants




By the bestselling author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, this is Michael Pollan's ingenious companion book about the surprising and close relationship between people and plants.

By the bestselling author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, this is Michael Pollan's ingenious companion book about the surprising and close relationship between people and plants.

In this entertaining young readers edition of the environmental studies classic, Michael Pollan demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a reciprocal relationship. He links four fundamental human desires—sweetness, beauty, energy, and control—with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, coffee, and the potato. In telling the stories of four familiar species, Pollan illustrates how the plants have evolved to satisfy humankind’s most basic yearnings. And just as we’ve benefited from these plants, we have also helped them to thrive.

The Botany of Desire is perfect for STEM-focused young readers who want to learn more about:

  • human history, biology, and environmentalism
  • climate change and its impact on our relationship with plants
  • gardening and the human-plant relationship
  • Published: 11 June 2024
  • ISBN: 9780593531549
  • Imprint: Rocky Pond Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 208
  • RRP: $30.00

About the author

Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan is the author of five previous books, including In Defence of Food, a number one New York Times bestseller, and The Omnivore's Dilemma, which was named one of the ten best books of the year by both the New York Times and the Washington Post. Both books won the James Beard Award. A long-time contributor to the New York Times Magazine, he is also the Knight Profes­sor of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley.

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Praise for The Botany of Desire Young Readers Edition

Praise for The Botany of Desire Young Readers Edition

"Pollan’s friendly, conversational tone and first-person recollections bring levity and enthusiasm . . . [His] passion for his subject is evident and infectious as he encourages readers to psychologically reconnect with nature . . . A fascinating and accessible adaptation for science-minded or history-obsessed youngsters." —Kirkus

Awards and acclaim for the original edition of The Botany of Desire:

New York Times Bestseller
ABA Best Book of the Year
“We can give no higher praise to the work of this superb science writer/ reporter than to say that his new book is as exciting as any you’ll read.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Original, provocative and charming.”—Wall Street Journal