By Jackie Kerin and Tull Suwannakit (Ford Street Publishing)

This book is an historical narrative about Dr Ward’s life and fascination for plants. It explains how he developed the idea to invent the Wardian case, allowing plants to be shipped overseas with minimal watering. The colourful and carefully drawn illustrations add to the story, and show humour through the characters’ amusing facial expressions.

I enjoyed reading this book very much and I was eager to flip to the next page to find out more about Dr Ward’s adventures with plants. It was very interesting to learn about where some of our introduced plants came from. Readers aged 9+ who like historical narratives will enjoy reading this book.