Prunella by Beth Ferry, illustrated by Claire Keane (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 40 pages, ages 4-8). Prunella’s green-thumbed parents are surprised when their new daughter is born with a purple thumb. Turns out Prunella’s just as good at growing things as they are, but her talents lie with plants like Venus flytraps, bladderworts, and corpse flowers. Her parents are completely supportive of their daughter’s passions, but other kids are not, and Prunella’s only friends are her plants. One day a little boy appears and starts asking her about her garden. Much to Prunella’s surprise, he not only isn’t repelled by them, but tells her his aspiring-mycologist sister would be interested as well. Before long, other botanists have found them, and Prunella finds herself surrounded by a group of like-minded–and purple-thumbed–friends. The plants from Prunella’s garden (“Prunella’s Persnickety Plants”) are described on the front and back endpapers.

Millie Fleur’s Poison Garden by Christy Mandin (Orchard Books, 40 pages, ages 4-8). When Millie Fleur La Fae and her mother arrive in Garden Glen (“A Picture-Perfect Place”), they move into the one rundown house, located on the edge of town. Millie starts a garden with seeds from her old home, and before long plants like fanged fairy moss, sore toothwort, and glowing Jack-in-the-bush are flourishing there. The local garden club is not happy, and they try to root out this unconventional garden from their pristine town. Millie doesn’t understand, but her mother tells her, “Some people are scared of things that are different.” Millie decides to share her garden with the kids in her class, bringing in a plant for show and tell and inviting the whole class over to her house. The kids are amazed (if occasionally grossed out) by Millie’s wild collection, but slowly things start to change in Garden Glen. While it retains some of its original perfect charm, many people incorporate Millie’s plants into their gardens, adding a weird and wonderful dimension to the community. Includes additional information about snapdragons, spider plants, and a real-life garden like Millie’s in England.

These two books came out within a couple of weeks of each other and are remarkably similar with their stories involving girls who love unusual plants and themes of how being true to yourself can enhance a community. They would make a great story time combination, perhaps paired with a study of plants or an activity of planting something from Prunella’s or Millie’s garden.