Readerful Rise: Superhero Plants

O R E H E R SUPE PL M A PLANTS S

Words to look out for ...

In this book …

branch NOUN (page 27, 31) a part that sticks out from the trunk

Wild world

of a tree

Our shared planet

cause VERB (page 30, 32) To cause something is to make it happen.

Inventions and ideas

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deliberately ADVERB (page 26) on purpose

familiar ADJECTIVE (page 13) If you are familiar with something, or it is familiar to you, you know about it.

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mini ADJECTIVE (page 39) very small

pollution NOUN (page 28, 29, 55) dirt or damage in the air, water or soil store VERB (page 38) To store things is to keep them until they are needed. valuable ADJECTIVE (page 10) worth a lot of money or very useful

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Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders of material reproduced in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in subsequent printings if notice is given to the publisher.

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Text © Oxford University Press 2024 Illustrations © Richard Watson 2024 The moral rights of the author have been asserted

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First Edition published in 2024

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You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available

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ISBN: 978-1-382-04367-0 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The manufacturing process conforms to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

Printed in China by Golden Cup. Acknowledgements

Superhero Plants and Superplants to the Rescue written by Victoria Honeybourne Content on pages 7, 64, 66 and 70 written by Suzy Ditchburn Illustrated by Richard Watson Author photo courtesy of Victoria Honeybourne

H R E E RO P U S PLANTS E L P M A

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Written by Victoria Honeybourne Illustrated by Richard Watson

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Read this book if … you like

E, L PLANTS P M A

SUPERHEROES S and SAVING THE WORLD! 5

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6

OP STAND THINK E L P M A

This book is full of facts about

fascinating and life-saving plants.

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Do you know any ways that plants could save lives?

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E L P M A

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CONTENTS What is a plant?..................................... 12 Superhero plants ....................................16 Plants that adapt ..................................35 Plant villains ......................................... 42 Record breakers .................................... 48

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The future of plants ...............................53 Glossary .....................................................60 Index .......................................................62

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Plants are the superheroes of our world. They provide shelter and food for millions of animals. We also get life-saving medicines and many

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valuable materials from plants.

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e v amazing a h s t n a l P superpowers!

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THINK ABOUT IT! Do you think humans could survive without plants?

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W H AT I S A P L A NT ?

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12

A plant is a living thing that cannot move from

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place to place.

Most plants need water,

sunlight and air to survive.

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Some plants on this page might look familiar to you.

You may not know all of them, though!

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The very first plants on Earth grew in water. Experts think that plants started to grow on land around

500 million years ago.

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The wn re ar o n k e about 400 000 spe t! e cies o n a l f plant on our p 15

SU PER HE RO P LA NTS E L P M A

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? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

MISSION: To feed the world SUPERHEROES: Edible plants

Most food and drink comes from plants.

f o k n i h t E u o y Ca n L s e P m o c t a h t d fo o M o mA p l a n t s ? f rS

?

Turn over to see …

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Vegetables

Fruits

carrots, yams, onions

pears, mangoes

Nuts

Seeds

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hazelnuts, pine nuts

pumpkin, sunflower

Grains

Herbs

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rice, wheat, maize

mint, coriander, basil

Spices

Drinks

vanilla, cinnamon

tea leaves, coffee beans, fruit juices

FA C T ! ls get

ima Many an d from their foo oo. plants, t

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Giant pandas eat bamboo.

Sea urchins munch on seaweed.

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Mission: To cure illness Superheroes: Periwinkles and willows Modern medicines help treat

many serious diseases.

Many originally came from plants.

Vinblastine comes

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from the Madagascar periwinkle. We use it

GREAT JOB!

to treat cancer.

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Vinblastine

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Madagascar periwinkle

Aspirin can reduce the risk of heart attacks. It originally came from the bark of a willow tree. aspirin

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willow tree

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Today, scientists can make aspirin and other medicines in a laboratory. Without plants though, we wouldn’t have these miracle medicines.

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MISSION: To provide everyday items SUPERHEROES: Trees and cotton Paper comes from trees. Logs are

CRUSHED into small bits. These are

mixed with water to create wood pulp.

Then the water is squeezed out.

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The pulp is rolled out to make paper!

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wood pulp

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Th is b o o k is m a d e fro m tre e s !

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We also use wood from trees to make furniture, fences and many other things.

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Cotton grows on cotton plants.

Cotton is used to make things like clothing, sheets and carpets.

cotton plant

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Tell someone about the most important fact you’ve read so far.

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MISSION: To provide homes SUPERHEROES: Trees and bamboo Trees and bamboo are used to build homes around the world.

They are sustainable building materials. This is because we can

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deliberately plant more trees and bamboo. These new plants replace the ones we used.

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SUPER! 26

Most animals rely on plants for a place to live, too.

In this oak tree … birds nest in branches

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bats roost in holes

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beetles shelter under bark

rabbits live in roots

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MISSION: To remove radioactive pollution SUPERHEROES: Sunflowers S ome kinds of sunflowers have a superpower. They soak up

r adioactive pollution.

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In 1986, there was an explosion at a nuclear power plant in Chernobyl in Eastern Europe. This created radioactive pollution.

Afterwards, fields of sunflowers were planted nearby. The sunflowers moved

poisonous chemicals from

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the soil into their stems and leaves.

This helped to clear radioactive waste from the soil.

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MISSION: To prevent flooding SUPERHEROES: Trees

FL OO DI N G is a serious problem.

Heavy rainfall can cause rivers to overflow. Then the

WAT ER

can build up into a flood.

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Trees help to prevent flooding.

First, leaves and branches catch some of the rainwater. Then the tree’s root system takes the

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water down into the ground.

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root system

WOW!

p flooding.

Mangrove trees help to sto hot places.

They grow by the sea in

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MISSION: To save the planet SUPERHEROES: All plants!

A lot of the power we use comes from burning fossil fuels.

When fossil fuels are burned, they release carbon dioxide into the air.

E L P M A

Extra carbon dioxide in the air is

causing the planet to warm up.

This is called global warming.

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Plants and trees help to fight global warming. They take in carbon dioxide from the air. carbon dioxide

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Plants also release oxygen into the air. Humans and animals need oxygen to breathe.

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That’s how plants help us

save the planet!

STOP GLOBAL W A R M IN G

SAVE THE PLANET

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STOP GLOBAL WARMING TODAY

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E L SAVEP M AEARTHE TH

Pro te our ct Pla net

SAY NO TO GLOBAL WARMIN G SAVE THE EARTH NOW!

P LA NTS TH AT A DA P T E L P M A

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Many plants are very good at

adapting. This means changing in order to survive. Adapting is a plant superpower!

In the desert, plants have adapted so they can grow with little water.

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Some have extra-long roots to reach water deep underground.

Others spread their roots extra-wide.

They catch as much water as possible when it eventually rains.

INCREDIBLE!

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Instead of leaves, cactus plants have white

prickly spines.

These reflect sunlight away from the plant. This stops them losing water.

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The stems of a cactus plant are full of water. The plant stores the water. This helps it when it doesn’t rain for a long time.

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In the rainforest though, it rains a lot.

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FACT!

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Over half of the world’s plant species live in the rainforest!

Many tropical leaves are waxy with mini gutters down the centre.

Water runs away down the gutters.

Then the leaves don’t go mouldy.

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Some climbing plants wrap themselves around tall trees.

That’s how they reach the sunlight.

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This means their roots are in the air.

Their roots get water from the air,

not from the soil!

D O O G EWORK L P

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M A

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P LA NT VI LL A IN S E L P M A

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Plants can’t run away from danger.

Many plants have developed clever ways to protect themselves.

Some have spiKes

or hairs for protection.

OUCH!

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Many contain chemicals that can make people or animals very ill.

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VILLAINS: Poisonous plants Only some plants are edible.

Many can be harmful.

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WATCH OU T! Never touch or eat an unknown plant unless an adult tells you it is safe.

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VILLAINS: Deadly plants Some plants live near water.

Water can wash the food they need away from their roots.

So some plants catch insects

E L P M A

for food instead!

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Venus flytrap

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1 The Venus flytrap has folded leaves lined with tasty nectar.

2

The leaves are covered with very sensitive hairs.

E L P M A

3 The hairs sense when an

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insect lands on the leaf.

4

SNAP! The leaf shuts quickly.

5 The leaf fills with liquid.

This melts the insect.

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The plant eats the insect!

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YUM YUM! 47

R ECO R D B R EA KE RS E L P M A

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RECORD: Tallest plant This redwood tree in California is over 100 metres (m) tall!

That’s taller than

many famous tall

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buildings.

height 150 100

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66m

93m

116m

96m

50

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RECORD: Oldest growing tree Experts think this tree in Chile is more than 5000 years old!

Patagonian cypress tree

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RECORD: Smelliest plants

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The Rafflesia (say: ra-flee-zuh) and Titan arum plants have big flowers.

The flowers stink of rotting flesh!

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PONG!

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Tell someone about a favourite fact you’ve learned so far.

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RECORD: Slowest-growing plant Some lichen (say: ligh-cun) can take ten years just to reach the size

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of a coin!

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RECORD: Fastest-growing plant

Giant bamboo

can grow almost one metre a day!

That’s the height of a four-year-old.

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TH E FU TU R E O F P LA NTS ?

E ?

? ? ?

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?

?

?

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Plants are the superheroes of our planet. We couldn’t survive without plants!

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People CUT DOWN trees to make way for farms, roads and towns. Pollution from factories and cars also harms plants.

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d 40 per cent of Aroun plant species could become extinct.

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All around the world, people

are trying to protect plants.

New forests have been planted in many countries, including China, Australia and India.

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THINK ABOUT IT!

How could you help to protect plants where you live?

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You could:

Stay on paths so you don’t trample plants.

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Encourage people not to damage plant life.

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Walk or cycle instead of using the car.

E L P M A Grow plants.

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People and the planet are facing many challenges.

Plants and their amazing superpowers can help.

We can help plants, too!

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GL OSSA RY carbon dioxide: a colourless gas made by humans and animals breathing edible: able to be eaten

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extinct: an animal or bird is extinct if there are no examples of it alive

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fossil fuels: fuels that are dug up from underground and burned to make energy laboratory: a room or building with equipment for scientists to use nectar: sugary liquid made by flowers to attract insects and bees

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nuclear power plant: a factory that creates electricity, using the heat from something called a nuclear reaction radioactive: giving out a dangerous form of energy called radiation

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species: a group of animals or plants that are similar

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ST OP GL OB AL WA RM IN G

SAVE THE PLANET

STOP GLOBAL WARMING TODAY

SAVE THE EARTH

P ro t ec t o Pla ur n et

SAY NO TO GLOBAL WARMIN G SAVE THE EARTH NOW!

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IN DE X bamboo ............................................ 19, 26, 52 cactus.......................................................37, 38

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Chernobyl................................................... 29 climbing plant .....................................40–41 desert ...................................................36–37

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global warming .................................. 32–34 medicine .............................................. 20–22 paper................................................... 23–24 rainforest ............................................ 38–39

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roots...................................... 27, 31, 36–37, 41 sunflower .......................................18, 28–29 Venus flytrap........................................45–47

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LO OK BA CK 1. Why are plants important for the survival of the planet and humans?

2. How do some plants protect themselves

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from danger?

3. What or who do you think is the biggest risk to plants?

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4. How can you help protect the plants where you live?

5. Which is the most important fact you’ve learned from this book?

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HA! A! H E L P M A

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What kind of tree can fit into your hand?

A palm tree!

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RE AD OU T LO UD Here is a short play script called Superplants to the Rescue.

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First, read through the play script in your head. Then, find a friend to read it out loud with you.

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Think about which voice to use for each superhero. Think about how to express the superheroes’ feelings.

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P L R A E N P U S TO THE TS RESCUE E L P M A

play

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Superhero 1: There’s a problem with radioactive waste.

How can we help?

Superhero 2: I’ve got just the thing.

Let’s plant these packets of sunflower seeds!

They’ll grow and help clean the soil.

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Superhero 1: Perfect! Next, some scientists want to cure a deadly illness.

Superhero 2: I know! They’re near the rainforest. Let’s send them there. Many life-saving medicines are found in rainforest plants.

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Superhero 1: Great idea! The final challenge for today … a town is at risk of flooding in the future.

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Superhero 2: Trees are the solution.

They’ll absorb some of the excess water.

Superhero 1: Good job!

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READ IT AGAIN 1. Perform the play with your friend.

Try using different types of voice to make the play exciting. You could speak

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quickly, slowly, softly or loudly.

2. After performing the play, try writing some more dialogue to continue the

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conversation between the superheroes.

Use the facts you’ve read to come up with ideas.

3. Then try memorizing the play so that you can perform it without the book.

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About the author I am a neurodivergent author living in Shropshire. I think all plants are incredible! My favourite tree is an oak and my favourite flowering plants are forget-me-nots. I also love blossom trees in the spring!

Look for this book next: The Rap Lesson

Oxford Reading Level

O R E H R E P U S

9

rise

PLANTS

E L P

VICTORIA HONEYBOURNE RICHARD WATSON What do a willow tree, a sunflower

M A S

and a cactus have in common?

They’re all superheroes!

Dig in and discover how plants can save your life.

ISBN 978-1-382-04367-0 web email tel

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