Poisons in Our Path: Plants That Harm and Heal [Library Binding]

Anne O. Dowden (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up

Full-color paintings and black-and-white drawings, along with an understandable text, teach about the healing and harmful potential in the many plants we see every day and explain the medicines and poisons derived from these plants.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4 Up-A clear and well-organized presentation that is full of surprising facts. Dowden looks at poisonous plants, their effects on people, and their use and abuse throughout the ages. She includes stories from literature and history, such as a Roman army felled by honey made from azalea nectar, but they are cursory accounts and will not fully satisfy readers' curiosity. On occasion, fact and fantasy are not distinguished, e.g. "Foxglove was...a hiding place for elves." Almost every page of this decorous volume has a sample of Dowden's distinctive, excellent-quality artwork. Delicately toned, black-and-white drawings alternate with full-color paintings; plants are all pictured at half their natural size. All are perfectly rendered, detailed, and realistic. Not designed to be used as a field guide, this book will nonetheless prove handy for reports.
Sharon Levin, Waters Memorial Library, Underhill, VT
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-7. Dowden interweaves botany, history, and folklore in an engaging study of the physical properties and habitats of a variety of plants that have been important to humankind in magic or medicine or have been feared as poisons. Individual plants are highlighted in the profuse full-color and black-and-white illustrations, which are half the size of the actual living specimen. The reader may occasionally be confused by picture captions, some of which refer to plants illustrated on a facing page without adequately delineating the example being discussed. The author of several previous botanical volumes, Dowden broadens her scope here, making the book a nice complement to such titles as Lerner's Moonseed and Mistletoe (1988). By concentrating on the larger role particular plants have played in human history, she demonstrates one of the great ironies of nature: that which is beautiful may be deadly, and that which harms may also heal. Karen Harvey --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Library Binding
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (June 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060208627
• ISBN-13: 978-0060208622
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,623,417 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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