A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

When twelve-year-old Caspia's father takes a job in Brooklyn for the summer, she's sure that life is over. Whatever could she possibly find to do in the city away from friends for 10 weeks? Far away from her home in Maine, Caspia resigns herself to making do until school starts again. But then one day she finds a bundle of letters with "green" riddles, riddles designed to lead her to a new plant. As she begins to unravel each mystery, Caspia discovers there are numerous friends to be made and adventures to be had right in the middle of the city.

This book was a fun read, proving that sometimes friendships pop up in unexpected places. There were several things that I liked about this book:

*Caspia does turn her attitude around and draws closer to her parents.
*There's a lot to be learned about the plants highlighted in this book.
*Caspia's friends prove to be a positive influence in her life.

Still, there were a few notes for parents to be aware of:

*There is a budding romance between Caspia and a boy.
*There is mention of same-sex attraction involving one of her friends.
*Talk of witches and spirits
*Caspia's parents tell her that it's sometimes ok to keep secrets from them.

While none of these notes are about major plotlines, some of them may be larger issues for families and should be approached with open conversation.

All in all, I did think there were more positives than negatives in this book, and families could easily enjoy it as a read-aloud or a fun addition to a plant study.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

A lovely and cozy read with a strong message of environmentalism and community. I have read other books by Cornelia Funke and was really excited for a new story from her. The cover is beautiful and caught my eye right away. It gives a more magical feeling than the actually story which is like my only complaint. The story stays firmly rooted in the real world but captures the imagination of the reader with the green magic found every day in nature. The main character Caspia was curious and delightful. The little riddles she finds are quite fun and leave the door open to learn more about the plants discovered throughout the story.

I received an early digital copy of this book through NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for my honest review.

I adored this book from cover to cover! Plants, new friends, riddles, magical adventures, new discoveries... the list goes on and on of all the good things The Green Kingdom has to offer middle grade (and above!) readers. Thank you, NetGalley!

The Green Kingdom by Cornelia Funke is a middle grade fiction about a young girl who finds a bundle of letters containing riddles that lead her to discover plants during her summer in New York. What Caspia expected to be a boring summer turns into an adventure where she finds not only plants, but friends along the way.
I loved the writing. I enjoyed reading the letters and the clues for the plants. It made me want to go on a deep dive to learn more about each plant. I do wish that there was more time between getting the clues and discovering the plant’s identity. It seemed like all Caspia had to do was pull out her phone and google the information, but I guess that’s the world we live in.
This would be a great addition to a library servicing upper elementary or middle school students. I would recommend this to 3rd grade & up.
Thank you to DK Children and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a lovely [children's - middle grade] story about a young girl, a summer in a new city [BROOKLYN!!!!], and some mysterious old letters [found in a beautiful old dresser] and what comes from reading the letters [and from learning her new neighborhood and neighbors], and how making new friends, staying in touch with old friends [who are both excited about the mysteries and very valuable in helping the solving of them], and everyone working together in the mysterious adventure leads to fun, learning, and a very satisfying end.

Sprinkled with gorgeous illustrations [that really add to the overall story], plant, flower, and spice lore, and a story-within-a-story, this was a lovely way to spend an afternoon!

Thank you to NetGalley, Cornelia Funke, Tammi Hartung - Ethrobotanist, Melissa Castrilloh - Illustrator, and DK/DK Children for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When her parents drag her to Brooklyn for 11 weeks, Caspia Turkel is anything but happy about the family vacation. While exploring the place, she finds pale-green linen envelopes inside a hand-painted dresser. The letters are from the 1950s and 1960s to a girl named Minna from her sister, Rosalind. Each letter contains a series of riddles about plants. Caspia decides to delve into the “Green Kingdom” scavenger hunt and soon learns a variety of facts about Brooklyn and plants. As she does so, she meets new friends and starts to feel like Brooklyn is home. Will Caspia find a way to make Brooklyn home?

The character-driven plot is well written and engaging. The characters are likable, realistic, and relatable. Hartung’s botanical expertise comes to light and blends well into the story. The setting has an old-fashioned, fun feel. The illustrations are well-done and add a lot of depth to the story. Readers who like realistic fiction, adventure, and learning to adjust to a new town will want to pick this one up. Recommend for library collections where such books are popular. 4 stars, Gr 3 to 7

I was so excited to read a new Cornelia Funke title. Inkheart was my favorite book in middle school, so I instantly picked this one up. Thank you, DK Children for allowing me to read this review copy.

In this delightful and wholesome Middle Grade novel, we meet Caspia; a 12-year-old who finds out she'll be spending her summer in Brooklyn, NY instead of her hometown in Maine. She is forced to leave everything she loves behind, but discovers a secret mystery once she arrives at her new (but temporary) home.

The secret mystery being a set of 10 letters written by Rosalind, a blind girl on a botany expedition with her father. Rosalind wrote these letters for her sister, and included clues for her sister to discover a new plant in the Green Kingdom.

As Caspia reads through each letter, she discovers new plants, friendships, and even a little bit of a first love. But more importantly she discovers that she is able to set roots down in multiple places, and that it's okay to admit that you care about something (or someone) even if you'll eventually have to leave it behind.

I did think the book ended a bit abruptly, and her relationship with Rosalind was slightly unrealistic. But overall, I loved everything about this story. The characters were very likeable, and I am always really happy when a MG title includes healthy parental/child relationships.

I cannot wait to share this with my Cornelia Funke-obsessed students.

I LOVED The Green Kingdom! This is a fantastic middle grade book focusing on a girl who finds a series of plant-based riddles in an NYC apartment that her parents are renting for the summer. The riddles inspire trips around the city and a true love of plants and the natural world. Definitely one that made me stop and appreciate plants while reading!

Thanks to Cornelia Funke, DK, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review! My opinions are my own!

I enjoyed this book, a quick middle grade read. Caspia and her parents are spending the summer in Brooklyn so dad can work at a construction site while a family member recovers from an accident at said job site. On the first night in their air bnb Caspia finds a stack of letters from the 1950s written by the previous tenants younger sister in a dresser drawer. The letters it turns out hold clues to plants and sends Caspia on a scavenger hunt around Brooklyn where she meets a cast of characters. What she thought was going to be the worst summer ever turned out to be pretty great. I would definitely reread this with my kiddo when he’s a little older.

I adore Cornelia Funke's Dragonrider and Inkheart series, so I was looking forward to this new book. For some reason, I thought the Green Kingdom was going to be some sort of fairy tale or magical realm. Instead, we're in Brooklyn.

Caspia Turkel is going to spend her entire summer in Brookyln, away from her home and her two BFFs, while her dad is on a construction job. She thinks she is going to hate it, especially when their AirBNB is a floral nightmare. Or is it? Caspia finds mysterious letters written to the apartment's former occupant, littered with plant riddles. Curious, she tries to solve the riddles and her mother tries to use whatever the answer is in an interesting culinary dish. Caspia, in turn, makes many friends on her plant adventure and "grows roots" in a place she thought she was eager to leave.

I admit I enjoyed the journey of the letters and mysterious plants, some of which my guesses to were completely wrong. I like thinking of the plant world as "The Green Kingdom" and never considered it much until reading this book. The friendships made in the story are fun.

I docked it one star because the book ended so abruptly I was sure some of it is missing. Maybe it was from the ARC I got. I sure hope it got corrected in the final book.

My thanks to DK Children Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC.

The Green Kingdom

By: Cornelia Funke; Tammi Hartung

Publish Date: April 1, 2025

Publisher: Dk/Dk Children

Children’s Fiction

#TheGreenKingdom#NetGalley

200 Book ReviewsProfessional Reader

I would like to thank both NetGalley and Dk Children for allowing me to read and review this Book.

Book Review:

I really enjoyed this book and gave it 4 stars. Caspia is a twelve-year-old girl who has to go to Brooklyn for the summer. She really doesn’t want to go and the miss the summer with her two best friends. Once she gets there, she finds ten letters in the bottom dresser drawer and decides to read to them even though she knows she shouldn’t. These letters have five clues to different plants, and she decides to figure out what they are. She ends up having fun and finding new finds. She gets help from her friends back home through text messages.

I like how she figures out the clues because I wasn’t able to. I also enjoyed how she goes out of her comfort zone and meets new people. Her parents are so supportive and encourage her. This is a great family book and something I know young readers will enjoy. It is perfect for the month of April with Earth Day.

4.5/5⭐️

The Green Kingdom is a cozy slice-of-life story in which a girl, Caspia, finds a bright spot in the midst of an unwanted summer trip in the form of mysterious letters containing plant riddles that she gathers friends new and old to solve. As she solves the riddles, she develops a newfound connection to nature and strives to learn more about different plants and start a garden of her own. Her own piece of ‘The Green Kingdom’. A simple story, and yet there’s a magical quality to it. Something about finding real life thriving in a concrete jungle. Brooklyn, it’s people, and it’s treasures appear vividly in my mind with Funke’s writing. Like Caspia, I feel like my head is now full of plants. Despite my previous failed attempts at fostering houseplants, I feel the urge to try again. I also enjoyed the riddles as much as she did, and felt quite proud when I guessed them correctly. If you appreciate the beautiful cover, you’ll be happy to know that there are equally stunning illustrations throughout as well. To sum it up, I would describe this book as ‘peaceful’ but also ‘interactive’. Perfect for when you want a cozy summer story with the warmth of nature’s own magic; plants, friendship, family, and community. As a side note, it would be lovely if a place like Blooms and Books really did exist. Thank you to NetGalley and DK Books for the arc!

Cornelia Funke is an author enjoyed by my children and whenever I discover a new book, I know she will not disappoint. Lets's first talk about that gorgeous color awash in shades of green (nicely partnered with its art complement, red). The cover adds a bit of mystery as the reader wonders about the plants on the cover.

Caspia has mixed feelings about spending the summer in Brooklyn. Her father took a construction job and her mother hopes to finally write a cookbook. And poor Caspia is wondering how she'll survive 12 weeks without her two best friends. They rent a quaint place that looks like it belongs in a different century with floral wallpaper and embroidered items all throughout. While Caspia was [hitting her things into the ancient dresser in her room, she discovered a ribbon-wrapped stack of letters. She was surprised to find out they were written in the 1950's and were a series of riddles about plants ("The Green Kingdom").

Those letters open up a new world to Caspia as she explores Brooklyn in order to solve the riddles. As she frequents various local businesses to find the answers, she also makes friends: young and old, with a variety of backgrounds. The friends she adds are like the varieties of plants in a garden--each with their own beauty and strengths. And each friendship teaches Caspia more about the Green Kingdom and, more importantly, more about herself.

The treasure hunt using plants is a genius way to interest young people in the fascinating history and little-known uses of common plants. I loved how Caspia's mother's love of cooking becomes part of the adventure as she finds recipes using the featured plants (if only the recipes were shared in the book!).

I loved how so many old-fashioned skills were interwoven into the book: gardening, cooking, embroidery, sketching & painting and letter-writing. I can see this book being a fabulous springboard into trying out all of those skills.

I really enjoyed the story and highly recommend with only a couple minor cautions. The topic of same-sex attraction comes up with one of Caspia's friends--felt like an unnecessary detail thrown in. And the other small disappointment was when one of the 12-year-old characters uses a swear word near the end of the book. The character was a very polite and well-behaved boy; it seemed totally out of character to swear, especially in front of Caspia's father (and presented as just normal dialogue). Why throw in one swear word for no apparent reason?

I am a huge advocate of reading aloud to children and in this case, I would definitely suggest doing so. This allows a parent to either talk about the elements mentioned above or edit them out. In the case of swearing, I am THAT parent that skips over cuss words in books--kids hear enough profanity everywhere else and I believe books should elevate the mind, not debase it.

It was truly a magical book in almost every other way. I did feel the book ended rather abruptly--sort of felt like a conversation was cut short. I think readers will feel a bit let down that there isn't more to the story. Perhaps that was to leave open the possibility of a sequel or to allow the reader to speculate on what Caspia's next adventures might be.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of The Green Kingdom from DK Children through NetGalley for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received, and the opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I read an Advanced Reader's Copy on my Kindle and it was bit glitchy, but it looks like the illustrations are going to really add to this book. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a physical copy.

The story is heart-warming. Caspia and her parents spend a summer in Brooklyn, which Caspia is very relunctant to do; she will miss her friends and their summertime rituals in small town Maine. However, Caspia finds a pile of ten letters that include plant riddles which lead her to find many new friends in Brooklyn, and beyond.

I know of a reader who loves plants who will devour this book! Those who are not plant lovers may find a new interest in them as well.

While this is a lovely story and includes a lot of fun facts about plants, unfortunately, this one fell flat for me. I went into it with an expectation of a bit of magic/magical realism, and while it is whimsical in places, this is a story that sits solidly in reality, so those unmet expectations are on me. For a “country girl,” Caspia is (unbelievably) instantly comfortable navigating a strange, busy city entirely on her own (and are her parents?!). I also found the formula for the letters/riddles to get rather repetitive towards the end. The friendships she forms are sweet, but even a host of colorful characters didn’t quite balance the heavy inclusion of technology and lacking depth for me. Sadly, it’s a 2.5 star read for me.

Caspia is a real Negative Nancy for the first half of the book. She berates her family for dragging her away from all she loves to live in a place she has spent her childhood mocking. She picks at her friends' traits. Really, her attitude was almost enough for me to DNF. The inconsistency of the characters also chafed. A mother obsessed with cooking, and who knows random recipes that include wild plants, has a daughter with zero plant knowledge because they have no garden, no houseplants. Caspia claims she is a country girl having grown up in Maine, yet she has no rural interests. Her entire behavior is rich surbanite.

The saving grace to the novel was the green kingdom and the plant riddles. Rosalind's letters introduce really fun facts about some of the most commonly interacted with plants. We get to learn myths and legends about common plants such as dandelion, mint, apple, cinnamon, nettle, as well as enjoying a few more exotic choices. We experience the plant on culinary, medicinal, and artistic levels. The group of people Caspia meets on her journey to solve all the riddles are eccentric and build quite a community. I was pumped to see all of this in a middle grade novel.

The whole story tanked, however, when the author just had to step onto the soap box. There was zero reason for any of the forced tangents. Each interaction felt like stamping a box on the diversity bingo card to win the publisher's attention. The book really hit zero stars at that point. Since I read all the way to the end, I felt one star was necessary. Then, I decided to include one star for the green kingdom riddles and the personality growth Caspia does manage by the end of the tale. There is no way I can recommend this to other readers, though.

This is a sweet and charming middle grade novel. Caspia and her family moves from Maine to Brooklyn for a summer and Caspia discovers some old letters that lead her to see Brooklyn through new eyes, make new friends, and become a fan of "the green kingdom" (aka nature). She learns a lot, both about herself and the natural world. There's a slight hint of a budding romance, but nothing inappropriate happens, and it's a charming piece of the book. I recommend this for anyone looking for a low-drama book dealing with moving, or anyone wanting a low-stakes but sweet read.

BOOK REVIEW: “The Green Kingdom” by Cornelia Funke

Twelve-year-old Caspia is not excited to spend the summer in Brooklyn. Her dad got transferred there for the summer for a big job, and it’s the perfect place for her mom to work on her new cookbook! What will Caspia do all summer without all of her friends? When she arrives in Brooklyn, she discovers a small stack of old letters in her dresser. Each one contains a riddle about plants, with clues to try to figure it out. Caspia ends up making friends in the oddest places because of the letters, and when the time comes, she’s actually sad to leave!

I loved the idea of this book! Science is one of my favorite subjects and these riddles were the best way to make it fun!

However, because this book is aimed at 8-12 year olds, there was a lot that I didn’t love.

🌱Constant belittling of her mother by the grandmother
🌱Same sex attraction in children
🌱Talk of witches and pagan spirits
🌱The parents telling Caspia that she doesn’t need to tell them everything and it’s okay to have secrets from her parents.

For the reasons above, I can only give this book 3 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for my honest unbiased opinion.

"Caspia's summer is transformed when she discovers a bundle of letters containing ten plant-based riddles in this enchanting adventure for children ages 10 and up.

All right, she had to admit it: it really was an adventure to be in a new place. A different Caspia emerged here. A Brooklyn-Caspia, just like the Brooklyn-dandelion.

Twelve-year-old Caspia hates big cities, especially New York. So, she isn't thrilled by the news that her parents are taking her to Brooklyn for the whole summer.

But everything changes when Caspia discovers a bundle of letters, written by a blind girl many years ago, and hidden in an old chest of drawers. Each letter contains a 'green' riddle, with clues leading to a different plant.

Caspia sets out to solve the riddles and, as she does, she meets friends she could never have imagined and finds, to her surprise, that sometimes you can put down roots where you least expect it."

A wonderful way to appreciate the start of spring and new life.