Nine-year-old Lona thinks she's just getting another pet when her mother, a plant scientist, brings home a tiny green seedling named Arbi. But she soon learns that Arbi is no ordinary plant - a particular species called Arabidopsis thaliana, one of the most important "model organisms" scientists use to study all plants!
As Lona cares for Arbi over the following weeks, she is launched into an eye-opening botanical adventure. Her mother's vivid explanations spark Lona's curiosity about the amazing ways plants grow, develop new organs, adapt to their environments, and reproduce—revealing an unseen universe of magic happening right on her windowsill.
Lona is awestruck by Arbi's transformation from a humble seedling into a mature flowering plant. But she also bears witness to the incredible resilience of plants like Arbi as they overcome heat stress, drought, damage and more. Lona gains profound respect for how plants can adjust every aspect of their lives in response to nature's challenges.
When a disinterested classmate tries to ridicule Lona's fascination with Arbi, her good friends rally behind her and celebrate her "nerd" pride. Emboldened by their support, Lona resolves to stand up for others just as her friends did. She takes this lesson to heart when she defends a young boy being misled on the playground.
As Arbi's life cycle comes full circle with the appearance of its first seeds, Lona hatches a special plan to share the wonders of plants with all her classmates. By the end, she has blossomed into a committed young scientist herself—thanks to the eye-opening journey of raising Arbi the Model Plant.
Blending a heartwarming narrative with scientifically accurate explanations, "Arbi the Model Plant" will open every child's eyes to the remarkable biology, resilience, and even psychology of the plants around them every day. It's a story that will inspire new generations of plant scientists while nurturing critical skills like empathy, courage, and environmental stewardship.
Illouz-Eliaz’s background in plant biology shines throughout this informative book, as Lona’s mother never shies away from using scientific terminology—like meristem, genome, and whorls, among others—to explain the processes that make Arbi so special. Some of those lessons are remarkably adaptable to Lona’s own experiences, including how plants confront stress, a helpful example that reminds Lona of her own sadness when her family moved to San Diego and she was forced to make new friends. When she reflects on a plant’s amazing capabilities to adjust to their environment, Lona wisely wishes she “was as flexible as plants.”
Though the terminology may be challenging for younger readers, Illouz-Eliaz breaks the lessons into bite-size pieces, allowing Lona’s childlike curiosity to drive each one. It’s sweet to see her mother’s trust that she can grasp the complex information, and Imily Mitrani’s understated graphics help illustrate all that Lona is learning—from plant diagrams to seed representations. Arbi is so much more than a model plant—she’s the spark that ignites Lona’s thirst for learning and inspires her, in the end, to gift her classmates their own Arbi seedlings for class graduation, a chance to “[carry] home a tiny pot with a green beginning.”
Takeaway: A fascinating lesson on plant biology, through the eyes of a young girl.
Comparable Titles: Benson Shum’s Little Seed, Helena Harastova’s How Plants Talk.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: B+
Illustrations: A-
Editing: B-
Marketing copy: B
