Access Denied
IMPORTANT! If you’re a store owner, please make sure you have Customer accounts enabled in your Store Admin, as you have customer based locks set up with EasyLockdown app. Enable Customer Accounts
Don’t Eat Me! The Almost True Story of Belladonna
- Regular price
- $29.99
- Sale price
- $29.99
- Regular price
-
- Unit price
- / per
From award-winning illustrator Esmé Shapiro and debut talent Kate Finney comes the unforgettable story of Belladonna, a spunky, beautiful plant who must learn to survive—even though she can’t flee from those who want to devour her!
Everyone in the forest knows about Belladonna—that tall, beautiful plant whose berries are so delicious that they’re forever being gobbled up. Day after day, poor Belladonna is nibbled at until there’s almost nothing left of her. But unlike the animals who can leap, climb, or fly away, Belladonna, being a plant, is firmly rooted in place. So what’s a plant to do to survive?
This is the story of how Belladonna learns to harness her own chemical powers to protect herself and her descendants . . . and how she learns from a great cast of plant and animal characters—culminating in a dandy pheasant—that no one ever survives alone.
This one-of-a-kind picture book is gorgeously illustrated by Esmé Shapiro with wit and humor, and has an astonishingly epic framing that carries Belladonna across eons into her final, powerful form!
Everyone in the forest knows about Belladonna—that tall, beautiful plant whose berries are so delicious that they’re forever being gobbled up. Day after day, poor Belladonna is nibbled at until there’s almost nothing left of her. But unlike the animals who can leap, climb, or fly away, Belladonna, being a plant, is firmly rooted in place. So what’s a plant to do to survive?
This is the story of how Belladonna learns to harness her own chemical powers to protect herself and her descendants . . . and how she learns from a great cast of plant and animal characters—culminating in a dandy pheasant—that no one ever survives alone.
This one-of-a-kind picture book is gorgeously illustrated by Esmé Shapiro with wit and humor, and has an astonishingly epic framing that carries Belladonna across eons into her final, powerful form!
Praise for Don’t Eat Me! The Almost True Story of Belladonna
One of New York Magazine / The Strategist's Best New Books for Kids Published in 2025! "Beautiful, poetic, and captivating."
The Strategist
One of Betsy Bird's Top Funny Picture Books of 2025! "Meet the poster child of informational fiction! This little beauty (and it is a surprisingly lovely, funny, AND informative book) comes to us via Enchanted Lion Books. Essentially, this title is tailor-made for science units since it follows the experiences not of a single flower, but of a flower species... Shapiro, for the record, is the ideal illustrator to pair with this since her images of animals gnawing on Belladonna's leaves (there's a deranged frog in particular that makes me happy every time I see it) is downright hilarious. It's written like a fairy tale, but there's some serious information to be found here, particularly in the info at the end 'About the Belladonna Plant.'"
A Fuse #8 Production (A School Library Journal blog)
Esme's artwork is breathtaking, rich with folk-art touches and intricately hand-painted natural details. You can see every brushstroke on each blade of grass. The plants, animals, and insects all seem curiously alive, their bright eyes and funny little teeth full of personality.
The Strategist
Sumptuously illustrated... Shapiro draws on folk art motifs, botanical art, and classic fairy tale aesthetics to portray a forest where, via debut author Finney’s extended text, everything is not only alive but eager for deep conversations about the paradoxes of adaptation and interdependence.
Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Kate Finney grew up among familiar trees on the outskirts of Philadelphia. She is the recipient of Vassar’s Ann E. Imbrie Prize for Excellence in Fiction Writing. She splits her time between Brooklyn and an island in Maine. Esmé Shapiro grew up in Laurel Canyon, California, and Ontario, Canada, and is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. Her previous picture books include Ooko, which was nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award in 2016. Shapiro also illustrated Yak and Dove by Kyo Maclear, Eliza: The Story of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton by Margaret McNamara, and A Garden of Creatures by Sheila Heti. Shapiro lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband, Daniel, and their two dogs.
You May Also Like
View more
This product currently has no recommended items.
Sign up to our Newsletter
Our weekly newsletter is a curated collection of interviews, articles, stunning images and books we think you’ll love. Sign up to get 20% off.
In accordance with our privacy policy, you may unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid password
Enter
- Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.