How Not to Kill Your Plant - by Magda Gargulakova & Lenka Chytilova (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A comprehensive guidebook for kids on proper houseplant care, featuring bold illustrations and engaging infographics.

Houseplants can add a touch of green to any living space, and caring for them can be a relaxing and rewarding hobby. For kids interested in learning more about plant care, this comprehensive guidebook covers all the basics and more, teaching kids all about the different types of houseplants, their growth habits, and the best practices to care for them. Divided into three sections, How Not to Kill Your Plant provides all the information kids need to ensure their houseplants thrive:

1. The Basics of Care: Learn about the essential elements of plant care, including watering, lighting, and soil.

1. Encyclopedia of houseplants: Identify and learn about common houseplants, including their ideal growing conditions and common issues to look out for.

1. Cultivation practice: Discover tips and tricks for repotting, propagation, and other plant care techniques.

Highlights include:

• A glossary of basic plant terminology (e.g., substrate, fertilizer, humidity, etc.)


• Step-by-step instructions for taking care of houseplants


• Advice on choosing the right plant


• Various problems you can expect to encounter - and ways to solve them

Images accompany the text in a fun yet logical and orderly fashion, such as this numbered list for repotting:

1. Water the plant well the day before repotting. This will make it easier to remove it from its pot.


2. Remove the plant from its pot.


3. As you carefully release the roots, remove old, excess soil from the plant.


4. Remove old, rotting roots.


5. Having selected a pot with a drainage hole and of appropriate size, wash this pot in soapy water.


6. Put a drain (e.g., a layer of expanding clay balls or pebbles) in the bottom of the pot. (Plants watered in a tray do not need a drain.)


7. Add a small layer of the new substrate.


8. Place the plant in the new pot.


9. Fill any remaining space in the pot with the new substrate.


10. Tamp the soil down gently with your fingers, ensuring that the plant is well anchored. Don't fill the pot with soil right to the top, but to 1 cm below it - you must leave space for watering.


11. Water the plant well (unless it is a cactus or succulent - in which case wait 2 weeks before watering).


12. Your plant has been potted. Hurray!

Plant care instructions are likewise fun yet clear and actionable, such as this one for the Cactus:

• Fertilize max. 1x per month with special fertilizer for cacti.


• In spring or summer, transplant to a terracotta pot. Do not water for 2 weeks after repotting.


• Propagate by offsets.


• It needs an airy, permeable substrate, like one with sand.

Filled with clear and concise advice, this book is much more than just a practical guide. It features fresh, modern illustrations that bring the information to life, as well as engaging infographics that make the information easy to understand and remember.

How Not to Kill Your Plant is suitable for children aged 6-9 interested in growing houseplants. Geared toward kids who love plants and want to develop a lifelong hobby of plant care, this guidebook is ideal for any young ones looking to green up their home, as well as adult readers and flower shop patrons.

Review Quotes

Selected for the CBC Winter 2024 Showcase: Boredom Busters

Selected for the CBC's 2023 December Hot Off The Press Reading List

"Still, this nonfiction title for kids should provide you with all the information that can help you out. And it really does. It lays down all the requirements, all the equipment, all the know-how." --Betsy Bird, School Library Journal

"How Not to Kill Your Plant is a wonderful resource for children interested in houseplants or gardening, even adults with less than a green thumb! The author included so much detail! From decisions needing to be made about what daylight and care we can provide the plants, how to chose the right plants for us, house plants throughout the seasons, and much, much more! The illustrations are delightful. They are brightly colored and detail the plants wonderfully." --Cherokee Crum, YA Books Central

"Do you like plants? Do you have trouble keeping them alive? This book is perfect to learn all about finicky house plants and how to best care for them to keep them alive." --Liam (age 12), Kids' Book Buzz

"Delightful advice for any age! Layout, info, and attractive graphics will appeal to visual learners on how not to kill your plant!" --Andrienne C., Azusa City Library

"How Not to Kill Your Plant is a fantastic houseplant care book for beginners because of its effective visual design and comprehensive information that will appeal to kids, teens, and adults." --Laila Carter, Cheltenham Township Library System

"With beautiful modern illustrations and a simplistic approach to basic plant procurement and care, this is the perfect comprehensive guidebook to anyone looking to care for plants." --The Novel Neighbor, Bookseller

"This was a delightful read about caring for and celebrating houseplants. Although it is categorized as a children's book, I can see myself gifting this book to an adult (along with a new plant that is featured in the book). I thought this book had great information, and the illustrations were so charming." --Margaret M., NetGalley-Reviewer

"This was a cute nonfiction guide to growing and keeping plants. I liked the illustrations. This would be a great resource for kids interested in keeping plants." --Melanie G., NetGalley-Librarian

About the Author

Magda Gargulakova has a degree in Art History and is a co-founder and also curator of the OFF/FORMAT gallery in Brno, Czech Republic, which exhibits and promotes contemporary progressive art, mostly by young artists. She worked for a time in marketing, but her love affair with books has been a long one. For OFF/FORMAT, she has edited and published several art publications. Since 2019, she has added to this experience as an editor of literature for very young readers at Albatros Media, using her two daughters for quality control.

Lenka Chytilova was drawn to books and writing from a young age. It was no surprise, then, when she got a degree in Czech Language and Literature and German Translation. She has always tried to connect books and reading, her greatest hobby, with her work; she worked part-time in a bookshop for many years and she also worked as an editor and proofreader. Lenka likes classic Czech fairytales, and she loves Večerníček, the Czech television program for children's bedtime stories. She grew up in a village in East Moravia.

Hannah Abbo is a self-taught illustrator originally from Brighton, UK. When she's not drawing, she loves making ceramics, visiting botanical gardens, and growing vegetables. She currently lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal, with her partner and child, their (slightly) overweight cat, and 15 houseplants.