A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants

This was really cool. It looked stunning and the writing was humorous yet informative. While personally, I would've loved even more scientific explanations of the mechanisms of the poisons, it's clear that this book is meant to be accessible for all ages and education backgrounds. For what it tried to do, it succeeded very well.

I'm a sucker for a pretty picture...and these plants are gorgeous!! I actually read this out loud to my 11 year old son and we found it so interesting. Having Lincoln in it helped my son connect to the book since it was a historical figure he knew about. It's amazing all the uses and misuses plants have!

A beautifully illustrated compendium that come with useful and digestible facts (they maybe poisonous but they are cool, I promise!).

I really appreciated the author's research and presentation in this book; it would either act as a great starting point for further research or an overall fun, informing read to those who wish to learn about poisonous plants. It was both for me and I would definitely consult this book for my future writing projects.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the E-ARC!

I LOVED this book, from the beautiful illustrations to the wry and pithy writing, it was as a fun and informative trip into the world of poisonous plants. It should not be marketed as a children’s book, I think doing so will really limit sales

Absolutely enthralling! I devoured this book in a couple of hours. The full color pages are gorgeous and add to the information. The natural world is fascinating and poison plants are no exception. I loved this incredible nonfiction read - ties in well with popular fiction titles like Belladonna - we can understand more why Adalyn Grace went with that as her poison of choice.

I absolutely loved this book; it was like the intersection on the Venn diagram of things I find interesting: weird scientific facts, true crime, revenge, historical anecdotes. It's also filled with gorgeous illustrations and photographs. I will be needing hard copy of this one.

There are twenty-five chapters on individual toxic plants, from Belladonna to Hemlock to Opium. They are full of detailed science, effects on the body, history, mentions in mythology, true stories of their use, even warnings when the details were unsettling or gross.

I absolutely devoured this one, and probably made the man in my house nervous as I read snippets out loud with enthusiasm, ha.

Thank you so much to Lerner Publishing Group / Zest Books for this ARC to review!

This book was very informative but in a simple way. It wasn’t information overload. I really liked the layout of the books too since it departed out the information into different sections and sprinkled other information by using pictures and captions. I also really liked how each chapter began with the name of the plant, both scientific and common, with a picture of it. Also, it had a list of names for the plant that were the common names from different regions at the end of each chapter.

This book was so much more than I expected. I thought it would be a kids book and it was a very descriptive and educational book! I think middle and high schools would benefit from this informative book. I loved learning about all the different deadly plants. I do love to hike, but this book make me think twice about walking thru brush now!

I loved this book! Hirsch's many poisonous plants are wonderfully researched; some are creepy and others are more scientific. One can not forget the illustrations, which are gorgeous and plentiful. I have noticed a rise in the popularity of fun factual books by many of our younger patrons and this one will surely delight many!

Loved every inch of this beautiful book. It’s both informative and fun content. I was super engaged in every page, and the art was gorgeous. Additionally, I learned a ton about the history of poisonous plants, and some of the pop culture around some of the most deadly. This book would make a fabulous gift for any gardener in your life, and is excellent informative material to add to your reference library. I give this 5 solid stars.

This is one of those books you get to help you get witchy, "do not mess with me" vibes for your house. I love that I could flip into knowledge that people learn the hard way as well. The pictures and layout are wonderfully done and give such life to what can quickly become a dry subject! The little descriptions were sometimes less magical but with it being a factual book, I was very pleased overall.