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The Green Kingdom
Caspia‘s summer is transformed when she discovers a bundle of letters containing ten botanical riddles in this enchanting adventure.
Twelve-year-old Caspia hates big cities, especially one as busy as New York. So she isn’t thrilled by the news that her parents are taking her to stay in Brooklyn. It's summer-devouring bad luck! But everything changes when Caspia discovers a bundle of letters, hidden in an old chest of drawers. They belonged to two sisters who lived there long ago. Each letter contains a ‘green’ riddle, with clues leading to a different plant.
Caspia sets out to solve the riddles and, as she does, she meets friends she could never have imagined and discovers that anywhere can feel like home, if you are just brave enough to put down new roots.
The newest adventure from renowned and award winning author of Inkheart and Dragon Rider, Cornelia Funke weaves magic into every sentence of this new and exciting mystery set in the heart of New York City. The Green Kingdom is perfect for fans of the Greenwild series.
Twelve-year-old Caspia hates big cities, especially one as busy as New York. So she isn’t thrilled by the news that her parents are taking her to stay in Brooklyn. It's summer-devouring bad luck! But everything changes when Caspia discovers a bundle of letters, hidden in an old chest of drawers. They belonged to two sisters who lived there long ago. Each letter contains a ‘green’ riddle, with clues leading to a different plant.
Caspia sets out to solve the riddles and, as she does, she meets friends she could never have imagined and discovers that anywhere can feel like home, if you are just brave enough to put down new roots.
The newest adventure from renowned and award winning author of Inkheart and Dragon Rider, Cornelia Funke weaves magic into every sentence of this new and exciting mystery set in the heart of New York City. The Green Kingdom is perfect for fans of the Greenwild series.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published March 3, 2025
About the author
Cornelia Funke
473 books14.5k followersCornelia Funke is a multiple award-winning German illustrator and storyteller, who writes fantasy for all ages of readers. Amongst her best known books is the Inkheart trilogy. Many of Cornelia's titles are published all over the world and translated into more than 30 languages. She has two children, two birds and a very old dog and lives in Los Angeles, California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 341 reviews
March 6, 2026
In a Nutshell: A middle-grade adventure mystery about some botanical wonders and some enigmatic old letters. Decent characters, excellent plant-related information, epistolary interludes, fun riddles, clunky plotting, too much of attraction/crush talk. I mistakenly assumed this to be a fantasy. Recommended to the target age group.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
I had heard a lot about this author's fantasy novels for middle-graders. That, combined with that eye-catching cover art, led me to assume that this was also a fantasy set in a “green kingdom”. 🤭 I'm a bit disappointed that my first experience of a fantasy author's works turned out to be a non-fantasy. So that's the first thing to remember if you intend to pick up this book merely by looking at the author’s name like I did: it's not a fantasy but a general adventure story.
Caspia is a fitting protagonist. She isn’t perfect, especially at the start when she whines too much at the thought of spending summer in a city. But her character shows positive growth over the course of the plot, like all good protagonists do. I especially like how she always kept her parents and their feelings in mind. Even when she was keeping the letters a secret, she felt guilty about not telling them right away. (She did have her reasons, and they were somewhat valid.) Further, she always kept her parents posted on wherever she was going. I love how she said that if her parents could keep her updated on where to get in touch with them if she needed them, then she too should do the same. This is something every tween/teen would do well to remember.
The usual theme in fiction is for city lovers to complain about having to spend time in the country with its fewer comforts and greater farm smells. The reverse was put to good use in this novel, with Caspia’s issues with the bustling city life always sounding genuine. I appreciate how the author didn’t indicate a direct preference towards which one is better. Rather, the ending establishes how we can make a home wherever we are. The open-mindedness towards new experiences is important.
Adventure stories are quite common in children’s fiction, but this one is a modern-day adventure. This means that whenever Caspia needs some information, she uses her phone to get in touch with her friends back home or searches the answers online. I miss the days when child protagonists uses their brains more than their devices to solve riddles. 😒 Still, this access to technology also creates one realistic positive: Caspia keeps regular contact with her Maine friends Laryssa and Elle (both of whom are lovely), unlike other books’ protagonists whose old friends go off page once new friends pop in. Of course, Caspia does find several new friends also in NYC. The balance between old and new is maintained well, and it is great to see Caspia’s rapport with each of her friend sets without any insecurity or jealousy. There is some token diversity across these characters, some of which feels forced.
The adult characters in the book, though fewer in number, are sketched well. Most are shown as responsible adults, which I really appreciate. It’s so tiresome to see untrustworthy adults in children’s fiction! Caspia’s mom shows a lot of enthusiasm towards new recipes, but she almost never made anything that sounded delectable to me. (Mushroom with cinnamon? Eeks! 😬) I found it odd how the mom, considering her tendency to cook new dishes from novelty cuisines, didn’t know the details of some basic spices Caspia learnt about from the riddles.
Considering how much of the plot is dependent on the location, NYC really shines in this book, even beyond Caspia’s complaints about its heat and its noise. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has a wonderful role to play in the solving of the riddles. I loved reading about something other than Central Park for once! 😅
The best feature of the book is the old letters and the riddles they contain. I love that the author actually included the whole letter in the interlude chapters rather than offering us just some key snippets through Caspia’s perspective. The letters have a charm of their own. Though they are the only indicator we get of their writer’s personality, they help us create a decent picture of the kind of person she was. I wish we got to know more about them though. Some parts of their life left me with queries.
The riddles are mostly fun. As an Indian adult and an avid reader, almost all the riddles were easy for me and all of the plants, familiar. To US-based middle-graders, these riddles could definitely have presented a unique challenge. Unfortunately, there is barely any time of research and discovery. The answer to the riddles is provided instantaneously in most cases. I wish there had been at least a little time of suspense to allow young readers to discern the clues and make their guesses. Further, as the story develops mainly through Caspia’s opening of the letters one by one and going in search of the answer to the latest riddle, the book has an episodic feel to it, with each section having one letter, one riddle, and details on one new member of the green kingdom. This formula gets repetitive after a while.
That said, it is worth appreciating that all the riddles have their solutions in the “green kingdom”, i.e. in plants and trees. Plants don’t often get the focus they deserve, so it was good to see Caspia develop a new interest in them. Hopefully, young readers too will feel the same. The plant facts provided are outstanding.
(On an aside, I was quite surprised that Caspia aged almost-thirteen didn’t know some basic facts about plants such as about onions growing underground. We learn all that stuff here by grade 4!)
What bugged me the most was the unnecessary inclusion of the dating-related thoughts and lines about having “fluttery feelings in stomach”. 🙄 Why is middle-grade fiction normalising dating? Why are we letting kids feel like this is something they ought to do at this age? Kids are anyway overly exposed to sexualised content via other media. It is better that romance/attraction-related tropes are left for older-YA books. I would have let this go if it were just one passing mention, but such content came up too frequently for my taste.
Overall, this was a decent read, though not what I expected from my first Cornelia Funke book. The characters and the riddles combined with NYC charm make for a good one-time read.
A part of me still wishes this were a fantasy like the author’s other books so that I could have got a genuine experience of her forte. This felt like picking up a Stephen King work and finding a mellow romance instead of horror – it’s just not the same!
Recommended to nature-loving and fun-fact-loving middle-graders. Some middle-grade fiction is impressive enough to work for adults as well; this isn't one of them.
3.25 stars.
My thanks to DK Flip for providing the DRC of “The Green Kingdom” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I follow the Goodreads rating policy:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Lifelong favourite!
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I loved the book.
⭐⭐⭐ - I liked the book.
⭐⭐ - I found the book average.
⭐ - I hated the book.
The decimals indicate the degree of the in-between feelings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || Facebook ||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
Twelve-year-old Caspia isn't happy when her parents tell her that they'll be spending the three months of summer in New York City. Caspia is not fond of big busy cities, and it's even worse to experience the New York heat after the cool Maine days. Things change when Caspia finds an old bundle of letters in their tiny new rental apartment. Probably belonging to the sisters who lived there long ago, each letter, written in the 1950s, contains a 'green' riddle with many clues and the answer always being from the plant kingdom. Summer suddenly becomes a lot more interesting for Caspia! But can she solve the riddles alone in an unfamiliar city without help?
The story comes to us in Caspia's third-person perspective.
I had heard a lot about this author's fantasy novels for middle-graders. That, combined with that eye-catching cover art, led me to assume that this was also a fantasy set in a “green kingdom”. 🤭 I'm a bit disappointed that my first experience of a fantasy author's works turned out to be a non-fantasy. So that's the first thing to remember if you intend to pick up this book merely by looking at the author’s name like I did: it's not a fantasy but a general adventure story.
Caspia is a fitting protagonist. She isn’t perfect, especially at the start when she whines too much at the thought of spending summer in a city. But her character shows positive growth over the course of the plot, like all good protagonists do. I especially like how she always kept her parents and their feelings in mind. Even when she was keeping the letters a secret, she felt guilty about not telling them right away. (She did have her reasons, and they were somewhat valid.) Further, she always kept her parents posted on wherever she was going. I love how she said that if her parents could keep her updated on where to get in touch with them if she needed them, then she too should do the same. This is something every tween/teen would do well to remember.
The usual theme in fiction is for city lovers to complain about having to spend time in the country with its fewer comforts and greater farm smells. The reverse was put to good use in this novel, with Caspia’s issues with the bustling city life always sounding genuine. I appreciate how the author didn’t indicate a direct preference towards which one is better. Rather, the ending establishes how we can make a home wherever we are. The open-mindedness towards new experiences is important.
Adventure stories are quite common in children’s fiction, but this one is a modern-day adventure. This means that whenever Caspia needs some information, she uses her phone to get in touch with her friends back home or searches the answers online. I miss the days when child protagonists uses their brains more than their devices to solve riddles. 😒 Still, this access to technology also creates one realistic positive: Caspia keeps regular contact with her Maine friends Laryssa and Elle (both of whom are lovely), unlike other books’ protagonists whose old friends go off page once new friends pop in. Of course, Caspia does find several new friends also in NYC. The balance between old and new is maintained well, and it is great to see Caspia’s rapport with each of her friend sets without any insecurity or jealousy. There is some token diversity across these characters, some of which feels forced.
The adult characters in the book, though fewer in number, are sketched well. Most are shown as responsible adults, which I really appreciate. It’s so tiresome to see untrustworthy adults in children’s fiction! Caspia’s mom shows a lot of enthusiasm towards new recipes, but she almost never made anything that sounded delectable to me. (Mushroom with cinnamon? Eeks! 😬) I found it odd how the mom, considering her tendency to cook new dishes from novelty cuisines, didn’t know the details of some basic spices Caspia learnt about from the riddles.
Considering how much of the plot is dependent on the location, NYC really shines in this book, even beyond Caspia’s complaints about its heat and its noise. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has a wonderful role to play in the solving of the riddles. I loved reading about something other than Central Park for once! 😅
The best feature of the book is the old letters and the riddles they contain. I love that the author actually included the whole letter in the interlude chapters rather than offering us just some key snippets through Caspia’s perspective. The letters have a charm of their own. Though they are the only indicator we get of their writer’s personality, they help us create a decent picture of the kind of person she was. I wish we got to know more about them though. Some parts of their life left me with queries.
The riddles are mostly fun. As an Indian adult and an avid reader, almost all the riddles were easy for me and all of the plants, familiar. To US-based middle-graders, these riddles could definitely have presented a unique challenge. Unfortunately, there is barely any time of research and discovery. The answer to the riddles is provided instantaneously in most cases. I wish there had been at least a little time of suspense to allow young readers to discern the clues and make their guesses. Further, as the story develops mainly through Caspia’s opening of the letters one by one and going in search of the answer to the latest riddle, the book has an episodic feel to it, with each section having one letter, one riddle, and details on one new member of the green kingdom. This formula gets repetitive after a while.
That said, it is worth appreciating that all the riddles have their solutions in the “green kingdom”, i.e. in plants and trees. Plants don’t often get the focus they deserve, so it was good to see Caspia develop a new interest in them. Hopefully, young readers too will feel the same. The plant facts provided are outstanding.
(On an aside, I was quite surprised that Caspia aged almost-thirteen didn’t know some basic facts about plants such as about onions growing underground. We learn all that stuff here by grade 4!)
What bugged me the most was the unnecessary inclusion of the dating-related thoughts and lines about having “fluttery feelings in stomach”. 🙄 Why is middle-grade fiction normalising dating? Why are we letting kids feel like this is something they ought to do at this age? Kids are anyway overly exposed to sexualised content via other media. It is better that romance/attraction-related tropes are left for older-YA books. I would have let this go if it were just one passing mention, but such content came up too frequently for my taste.
Overall, this was a decent read, though not what I expected from my first Cornelia Funke book. The characters and the riddles combined with NYC charm make for a good one-time read.
A part of me still wishes this were a fantasy like the author’s other books so that I could have got a genuine experience of her forte. This felt like picking up a Stephen King work and finding a mellow romance instead of horror – it’s just not the same!
Recommended to nature-loving and fun-fact-loving middle-graders. Some middle-grade fiction is impressive enough to work for adults as well; this isn't one of them.
3.25 stars.
My thanks to DK Flip for providing the DRC of “The Green Kingdom” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I follow the Goodreads rating policy:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Lifelong favourite!
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I loved the book.
⭐⭐⭐ - I liked the book.
⭐⭐ - I found the book average.
⭐ - I hated the book.
The decimals indicate the degree of the in-between feelings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || Facebook ||
March 6, 2025
4 Stars
One Liner: Entertaining and informative
Twelve-year-old Caspia is not a fan of cities. She lives in Maine and doesn’t want to move to Brooklyn with her parents even if it is for just three months. However, she discovers a bundle of letters with riddles about plants and finds herself exploring the Green Kingdom, staying connected to her best friends, and making new friends in Brooklyn. Soon, Caspia realizes that home can be more than one place if you are brave enough to let the roots grow.
The story comes in Caspia’s third-person POV.
My Thoughts:
This is my first book by the author (though once upon a time I DNF’d book one of the Ink Heart trilogy). This is a standalone and a short read filled with the beauty of plants, friendships, and hope.
Caspia is an interesting main character. She is almost thirteen and happy in Maine. Naturally, the temporary move to Brooklyn that summer doesn’t make her happy. Her character grows from being set in her ways to becoming adventurous while worrying about ifs and buts. She also learns a lot about plants (from not knowing how an onion grows to caring for her little garden, it’s quite a progress).
Our MC’s best friends, Laryssa and Elle, have distinct personalities and are fun in their own ways. It is easy to see the bonding between the three girls and how they support and tease each other.
The new friends Caspia makes in Brooklyn are also lovely, be it Jemila, Mrs. Wahid, or Ado. There’s good diversity without making it the focus but also not limiting it to a checklist. The balance is just right.
Since the book’s core is Green Kingdom, we learn many intriguing facts and myths about different plants. The riddles in the letters are entertaining. I had a great time guessing them before Caspia. I got more than 60% right, so that’s a win. ;)
That said, there were two clues with Hindu gods, and I have never heard of those… like ever! These are not commonly known. In fact, I’m not sure if these bits really belong to our Puranas or were fabricated over the years through random retellings. I’m curious where the author found them.
There are black and white illustrations (pencil sketches) of the plant/ flower and a few important settings. The sweet illustrations elevate the content and make it easy for young readers to visualize the details. Of course, I still had to google a few plants (and realized one of them is a common plant in India but I had no idea about its name). (Clue: Some people partly consume that flower to taste its nectar.)
The pacing is steady, and the book is the right length for the target audience. However, I wouldn’t have minded seeing Caspia’s efforts to figure out the clues. Thanks to technology, she gets the answers easily. That reminds me how well technology is used in the book. We see the positive usage of technology in providing knowledge and helping people stay connected.
I have to mention Caspia’s parents, especially her mom. Boy, she loves to experiment with food! As a picky eater, I won’t be eager to try her dishes but I’m glad to see her determination and success. The adults on the whole are pretty responsible and good.
To summarize, The Green Kingdom is a lovely read about plants, friendships, and letting one’s roots grow. It is a cozy and charming read. Not much of adventure or danger but something on the emotional/ personal level.
Thank you, NetGalley and DK Children, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
#NetGalley #TheGreenKingdom
One Liner: Entertaining and informative
Twelve-year-old Caspia is not a fan of cities. She lives in Maine and doesn’t want to move to Brooklyn with her parents even if it is for just three months. However, she discovers a bundle of letters with riddles about plants and finds herself exploring the Green Kingdom, staying connected to her best friends, and making new friends in Brooklyn. Soon, Caspia realizes that home can be more than one place if you are brave enough to let the roots grow.
The story comes in Caspia’s third-person POV.
My Thoughts:
This is my first book by the author (though once upon a time I DNF’d book one of the Ink Heart trilogy). This is a standalone and a short read filled with the beauty of plants, friendships, and hope.
Caspia is an interesting main character. She is almost thirteen and happy in Maine. Naturally, the temporary move to Brooklyn that summer doesn’t make her happy. Her character grows from being set in her ways to becoming adventurous while worrying about ifs and buts. She also learns a lot about plants (from not knowing how an onion grows to caring for her little garden, it’s quite a progress).
Our MC’s best friends, Laryssa and Elle, have distinct personalities and are fun in their own ways. It is easy to see the bonding between the three girls and how they support and tease each other.
The new friends Caspia makes in Brooklyn are also lovely, be it Jemila, Mrs. Wahid, or Ado. There’s good diversity without making it the focus but also not limiting it to a checklist. The balance is just right.
Since the book’s core is Green Kingdom, we learn many intriguing facts and myths about different plants. The riddles in the letters are entertaining. I had a great time guessing them before Caspia. I got more than 60% right, so that’s a win. ;)
That said, there were two clues with Hindu gods, and I have never heard of those… like ever! These are not commonly known. In fact, I’m not sure if these bits really belong to our Puranas or were fabricated over the years through random retellings. I’m curious where the author found them.
There are black and white illustrations (pencil sketches) of the plant/ flower and a few important settings. The sweet illustrations elevate the content and make it easy for young readers to visualize the details. Of course, I still had to google a few plants (and realized one of them is a common plant in India but I had no idea about its name). (Clue: Some people partly consume that flower to taste its nectar.)
The pacing is steady, and the book is the right length for the target audience. However, I wouldn’t have minded seeing Caspia’s efforts to figure out the clues. Thanks to technology, she gets the answers easily. That reminds me how well technology is used in the book. We see the positive usage of technology in providing knowledge and helping people stay connected.
I have to mention Caspia’s parents, especially her mom. Boy, she loves to experiment with food! As a picky eater, I won’t be eager to try her dishes but I’m glad to see her determination and success. The adults on the whole are pretty responsible and good.
To summarize, The Green Kingdom is a lovely read about plants, friendships, and letting one’s roots grow. It is a cozy and charming read. Not much of adventure or danger but something on the emotional/ personal level.
Thank you, NetGalley and DK Children, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
#NetGalley #TheGreenKingdom
November 5, 2024
cornelia funke spent 13 years writing books that saved my childhood and now she's coming back to save my 20's
September 29, 2024
What a lovely book. This was my first Cornelia Funke book and will definitely not be my last.
Whilst reading the letters I felt like I was transported back in time.
I liked all the characters and watching their friendships develop. The plant puzzles were intriguing and I found myself trying to figure them out before the answers were revealed.
I would recommend this book to readers of all ages.
Thank you to Netgalley for proving me with an early copy to review.
Whilst reading the letters I felt like I was transported back in time.
I liked all the characters and watching their friendships develop. The plant puzzles were intriguing and I found myself trying to figure them out before the answers were revealed.
I would recommend this book to readers of all ages.
Thank you to Netgalley for proving me with an early copy to review.
January 8, 2026
Not bad, given by neighbours for new years gift. Quite young for my age to read but had good facts
March 24, 2025
Caspia is a real Negative Nancy for the first half of the book. She berates her family for dragging her away from all she loves to live in a place she has spent her childhood mocking. She picks at her friends' traits. Really, her attitude was almost enough for me to DNF. The inconsistency of the characters also chafed. A mother obsessed with cooking, and who knows random recipes that include wild plants, has a daughter with zero plant knowledge because they have no garden, no houseplants. Caspia claims she is a country girl having grown up in Maine, yet she has no rural interests. Her entire behavior is rich surbanite.
The saving grace to the novel was the green kingdom and the plant riddles. Rosalind's letters introduce really fun facts about some of the most commonly interacted with plants. We get to learn myths and legends about common plants such as dandelion, mint, apple, cinnamon, nettle, as well as enjoying a few more exotic choices. We experience the plant on culinary, medicinal, and artistic levels. The group of people Caspia meets on her journey to solve all the riddles are eccentric and build quite a community. I was pumped to see all of this in a middle grade novel.
The whole story tanked, however, when the author just had to step onto the soap box. There was zero reason for any of the forced tangents. Each interaction felt like stamping a box on the diversity bingo card to win the publisher's attention. The book really hit zero stars at that point. Since I read all the way to the end, I felt one star was necessary. Then, I decided to include one star for the green kingdom riddles and the personality growth Caspia does manage by the end of the tale. There is no way I can recommend this to other readers, though.
The saving grace to the novel was the green kingdom and the plant riddles. Rosalind's letters introduce really fun facts about some of the most commonly interacted with plants. We get to learn myths and legends about common plants such as dandelion, mint, apple, cinnamon, nettle, as well as enjoying a few more exotic choices. We experience the plant on culinary, medicinal, and artistic levels. The group of people Caspia meets on her journey to solve all the riddles are eccentric and build quite a community. I was pumped to see all of this in a middle grade novel.
The whole story tanked, however, when the author just had to step onto the soap box. There was zero reason for any of the forced tangents. Each interaction felt like stamping a box on the diversity bingo card to win the publisher's attention. The book really hit zero stars at that point. Since I read all the way to the end, I felt one star was necessary. Then, I decided to include one star for the green kingdom riddles and the personality growth Caspia does manage by the end of the tale. There is no way I can recommend this to other readers, though.
June 14, 2026
This was nothing like I expected, and absolutely wonderful! 🩷🌿
I mistakenly thought it was a portal fantasy, but it was actually a contemporary story with botanical elements.
I loved Caspia and her curiosity and willingness to grow. Her Brooklyn and Maine communities were so varied and special. Also, I want to visit a floral shop full of books!
The riddles were super fun, and if readers wanted to solve them, they could pause before reading on.
I very much enjoyed this book! The perfect summer read. 💚
CW: crushes and blushing. Mild lying that is quickly resolved. A side character mentions she "likes girls".
I mistakenly thought it was a portal fantasy, but it was actually a contemporary story with botanical elements.
I loved Caspia and her curiosity and willingness to grow. Her Brooklyn and Maine communities were so varied and special. Also, I want to visit a floral shop full of books!
The riddles were super fun, and if readers wanted to solve them, they could pause before reading on.
I very much enjoyed this book! The perfect summer read. 💚
CW: crushes and blushing. Mild lying that is quickly resolved. A side character mentions she "likes girls".
April 29, 2025
3.5
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!
This was very sweet and heartwarming, and I hope will inspire some green-fingers in kids reading it! There’s so much focus on friendship, and I think the facts about the plants were really great to include. This is a great summer read for kids!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!
This was very sweet and heartwarming, and I hope will inspire some green-fingers in kids reading it! There’s so much focus on friendship, and I think the facts about the plants were really great to include. This is a great summer read for kids!
June 7, 2025
This would have been a 5 star read if it wasn't for a couple of comments throughout the story. I don't feel like any of that was necessary.
Otherwise, this was a great story. I loved all the plant talk and learning about new plants.
Otherwise, this was a great story. I loved all the plant talk and learning about new plants.
May 30, 2025
Очень все тут хорошо в книге)
May 20, 2026
As a plant lover, this book spoke to me. Plant facts woven into a sweet story of a girl on vacation with her family made this book a fun read for adults and kids alike.
October 31, 2024
12-year old Caspia and her parents are spending a few months in Brooklyn over the summer, and Caspia is not excited. On her first day there, she finds 10 letters from Rosalind to her sister Minna, who lived in the apartment they're staying at. Rosalind was traveling with her father, and would send riddles to her sister describing various plants. This means - of course - that Caspia spends her summer solving the plant riddles, making great friends along the way, while her mum tries to come up with new recipes to go with every plant she identifies.
I haven't read anything by Cornelia Funke since I aged out of the target audience about 15 years ago. I do have clear memories of my dad 'borrowing' the inkheart books after I'd gone to bed and spending several days waiting for him to stop reading so I could start. Infuriating back then, but after reading 'The Green Kingdom' I completely get it - I'd probably steal this off a child too 😇
It's a lovely little novel from an author who clearly appreciates that kids are smart and curious. It's also very likely to have your child attempting to identify every plant she sees for a while (and wanting to cook with it). I'd happily recommend it for all generations - but either read it together or wait until your child is done!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC❤️
I haven't read anything by Cornelia Funke since I aged out of the target audience about 15 years ago. I do have clear memories of my dad 'borrowing' the inkheart books after I'd gone to bed and spending several days waiting for him to stop reading so I could start. Infuriating back then, but after reading 'The Green Kingdom' I completely get it - I'd probably steal this off a child too 😇
It's a lovely little novel from an author who clearly appreciates that kids are smart and curious. It's also very likely to have your child attempting to identify every plant she sees for a while (and wanting to cook with it). I'd happily recommend it for all generations - but either read it together or wait until your child is done!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC❤️
June 24, 2026
This was a sweet story, but rather… small. Just because a story is for children doesn’t mean it should have no conflict and no stakes, yet here we are.
January 26, 2025
This a delightful and cozy read. We follow our protagonist finding letters from two sisters with hints regarding different type of plants. While dreading spending her summer away, she follows these hints and meets new people on the way. This was amazing! I could not figure out most of the hints, but I loved spending time with this characters. The plants facts were super interesting as well! The letters kept the story flowing super well, alongside the characters that were lovely to read about. The backdrop of Brooklyn as a setting was super fun as well! If you’re looking for a lovely and heartwarming story, this one might be for you! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a copy.
June 22, 2025
4.5 ⭐️ this was such a fun middle grade read. It was enchanting and lovely and a great story about adventure and building community. Some of the writing was a little irritating, which is why it’s 4.5 stars.
May 25, 2026
This was such a cute story, lots of annotations done and I absolutely loved the fun facts and little riddles for each plant that was named.
May 31, 2026
I suppose the theme of this book was about trying new things and learning about the plant kingdom. Having read Funke's other fantasy novels, I was expecting something different than this. From the synopsis I did expect a fantasy twist, but this is not fantasy. The content just seemed forced all around...to the characters interactions, personalities, the added topics to be relevant in 2026 and even the learning about the plant kingdom just felt unnatural as if they had a list of ideas they fashioned the story around which never makes for good storytelling.
The attempt to introduce some botany and herbalism into kids lives is commendable though.
The attempt to introduce some botany and herbalism into kids lives is commendable though.
July 30, 2025
Such a cute little book! I read this mostly at the beach which was a great decision! I really loved the characters - they felt real to me despite the very idyllic setting of the story. I would highly suggest this book to anyone looking for a simple little story about learning to love a new environment.
July 1, 2025
It was super light-hearted but still had these magical, thoughtful moments. The riddles were such a fun touch, and I really enjoyed the friendships Caspia made along the way. Just a really cozy, feel-good read. Recommended for all you plant lovers! :)
April 11, 2025
A sweet story about plants, friendship, and making the best of being out of your comfort zone. This is a great spring/summer read for kids :)
October 5, 2025
I love books about plants 🌱🌿🪴
November 19, 2025
oh, dear Cornelia 💚 what a magical treat !
February 12, 2026
Very cute story about putting down roots.
October 1, 2026
There is no actual magic in this lovely children's novel, but it is no less enchanting for it - would pair beautifully with the Greenwild series for those who want a more grounded adventure. From the first pencil sketch of the flower-painted dresser, I was invested, and the inclusion of letters with plant riddles -- from that long-ago time of...1958 -- fully engaged me even as an adult (I was able to guess all the plants except the last one, which I never would have gotten).
Our protagonist is also easy to relate to, a native of Maine who makes fun of New York tourists in her town and is very much against the idea of spending ALL SUMMER there, even though her parents insist that Brooklyn, where they'll be, is "very different" from the Manhattan most people associate with NYC. I haven't been, and I would also very much not believe that until I saw it.
Seeing it through the pages of a book was not quite enough to change my mind, but I could appreciate Caspia (great name!)'s discovery of how "village-like" a few blocks can become. Two local shops become part of her stomping grounds, where she makes fast friends with the owner (or owner's younger relative) at both: a spice store, for her working-on-a-cookbook mother's recipes, and a flower shop with a few more books for decoration than regulations probably allow.
She also finds a wonderful botanical garden open to the public, to both see the more unusual plants, and find some green respite from the city noise. So while she definitely loves plants way more than I do, I would still say the authors succeeded in their mission to write something that would "inspire readers to take a closer look at the Green Kingdom and maybe even fall in love with plants."
My only pacing issue is that it feels like a large section of plot was cut — we are told there was a second set of riddles that Minna came up with for Rosalind, which I thought might be fodder for a sequel? but instead we just leap ahead several weeks from mid-June to their last evening in Brooklyn, and are told that they spent a few weeks successfully solving those riddles.
Loved the epilogue, though! I still say there's room for a sequel.
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Two grumbles: there are two points at which it feels like there's a social justice quota that has to be met. The first (spoilers for the seventh riddle ahead) is when Caspia discovers the answer
The other is when one of the friends back home offhandedly mentions that she told their other friend she "likes girls." This is a very brief on-page explanation for why she was temporarily silent during the group chat and it never comes up again; it is literally only there to check the LGBTQ box so no one can complain that all the characters are straight.
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But aside from those odd moments, and the fact that I still think it was entirely unnecessary for Caspia to meet a random boy she finds cute, this was great. (I just want girls to have cool adventures all their own, okay! contemporary YA and its oversaturation of compulsory romance will be here soon enough)
P.S. this edition in particular is just begging to be a Christmas present, even though it takes place in the opposite season, between the green cover, poinsettia-red page edges, and absolutely gorgeous boards under the jacket: forest green with a gold flower-and-vine pattern matching the one on the endpapers (it honestly looks incredible with the jacket off).
But I do think the Walmart-exclusive edges fit more nicely (light green with the same flower pattern in inverted colors from the standard endpapers).
Our protagonist is also easy to relate to, a native of Maine who makes fun of New York tourists in her town and is very much against the idea of spending ALL SUMMER there, even though her parents insist that Brooklyn, where they'll be, is "very different" from the Manhattan most people associate with NYC. I haven't been, and I would also very much not believe that until I saw it.
Seeing it through the pages of a book was not quite enough to change my mind, but I could appreciate Caspia (great name!)'s discovery of how "village-like" a few blocks can become. Two local shops become part of her stomping grounds, where she makes fast friends with the owner (or owner's younger relative) at both: a spice store, for her working-on-a-cookbook mother's recipes, and a flower shop with a few more books for decoration than regulations probably allow.
She also finds a wonderful botanical garden open to the public, to both see the more unusual plants, and find some green respite from the city noise. So while she definitely loves plants way more than I do, I would still say the authors succeeded in their mission to write something that would "inspire readers to take a closer look at the Green Kingdom and maybe even fall in love with plants."
My only pacing issue is that it feels like a large section of plot was cut — we are told there was a second set of riddles that Minna came up with for Rosalind, which I thought might be fodder for a sequel? but instead we just leap ahead several weeks from mid-June to their last evening in Brooklyn, and are told that they spent a few weeks successfully solving those riddles.
Loved the epilogue, though! I still say there's room for a sequel.
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Two grumbles: there are two points at which it feels like there's a social justice quota that has to be met. The first (spoilers for the seventh riddle ahead) is when Caspia discovers the answer
The other is when one of the friends back home offhandedly mentions that she told their other friend she "likes girls." This is a very brief on-page explanation for why she was temporarily silent during the group chat and it never comes up again; it is literally only there to check the LGBTQ box so no one can complain that all the characters are straight.
--------
But aside from those odd moments, and the fact that I still think it was entirely unnecessary for Caspia to meet a random boy she finds cute, this was great. (I just want girls to have cool adventures all their own, okay! contemporary YA and its oversaturation of compulsory romance will be here soon enough)
P.S. this edition in particular is just begging to be a Christmas present, even though it takes place in the opposite season, between the green cover, poinsettia-red page edges, and absolutely gorgeous boards under the jacket: forest green with a gold flower-and-vine pattern matching the one on the endpapers (it honestly looks incredible with the jacket off).
But I do think the Walmart-exclusive edges fit more nicely (light green with the same flower pattern in inverted colors from the standard endpapers).
July 27, 2026
This book was so comforting and nostalgic! It took me back to when to when I was 10, 11, 12 years old reading classics like The Giver and A Wrinkle in Time. Although this book takes place in modern day Brooklyn, it still felt like a sweet “fantasy” escape. What a rich story and concept centered around plant riddles of The Green Kingdom and a young girl on her first big adventure! Really enjoyed it!
August 16, 2026
Like cozy fantasy for younger readers, but set in the real world. The fantasy comes from the adventure that Caspia has while trying to survive a summer away from home in a very different place than she’s used to. She discovers found family even when she already has family, but realizes the importance of having a village to support her. A little bit of generational trauma is sprinkled in, which highlights the importance of that found family.
Read this as a part of a book club with my children and they thoroughly enjoyed it as well.
Read this as a part of a book club with my children and they thoroughly enjoyed it as well.
October 7, 2026
This could have been very cute, but some oblique / deceptive marketing led me to believe this would be magical realism (it isn't: it's just contemporary fiction) and there was also some woke stuff shoe-horned in there that were not only annoying but not appropriate for middle grade lit.
July 31, 2026
When we finished this one, my daughter said “if I could give it 20 stars, I would!”
June 11, 2026
Probably close to a 3, but not quite a 3.... I did not enjoy this one as much as I hoped I would, especially being a fan of plants. It was disappointing. It was not terribly interesting, except for the plant bits. It reads like a very, very long picture book. My oldest tried to read it, too, and struggled to the point of DNF. I guess it really missed the mark with us.
June 28, 2025
Cornelia Funke has written such an eclectic list of books-Dragon Rider, Ghosthunters series, The Thief Lord, Igraine the Brave, to name a few-and now a realistic fiction novel for those who love plants, riddles, friendship stories, and/or books with moving as a theme. THE GREEN KINGDOM begins with 12 year old Caspia finding out that her dad’s work is sending him to Brooklyn, NY from their home in Maine for 3 months and she and her mom are going with him. Leaving her two best friends behind has Caspia pretty certain that this will be the worst summer ever and with its embroidered pillows and flowered wallpaper, the apartment they are renting doesn’t help much. But when she discovers a bundle of letters between two sisters with plant riddles in them, Caspia sets out to identify and then find each flowering plant which leads to her meeting an Indonesian woman who runs a spice shop, a young woman who works in her aunt’s bookish flower store and a boy name Ado whose father works at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Shy Caspia finds her voice and learns that she can put down roots in a new home and then blend the two when she returns to Maine.
Such great characters coming together over their love of plants in this book! Caspia’s mother was wonderful with all her efforts to use all of the riddle plants in her adventurous cooking while attending as many cooking classes as possible so she can turn all her creative recipes into a cookbooks. Mrs Wahid’s spice shop sounded like a a quirky shop with its ceiling high shelves and all those drawers and nooks plus a finicky dog to boot. And who wouldn’t want to visit a flower shop that uses books new and old as part of the displays? Funke’s worksmithing skills brings all of these people and places to life in a way that will thrill the soul of any ELA teacher and make every reader certain they all really exist.
Highly recommended for libraries serving grades 4-6 with high circulation in realistic fiction. The relatively low page count of 225 pages will make this Text in the arc is free of violence and sexual content and only one “damn” (totally unnecessary and I have no clue why it was included and hope it’s not in the final copy). Funke’s characters are from diverse backgrounds and reflect the mix of cultures present not only in Brooklyn but everywhere.
Thanks for the electronic ARC, NetGalley.
Such great characters coming together over their love of plants in this book! Caspia’s mother was wonderful with all her efforts to use all of the riddle plants in her adventurous cooking while attending as many cooking classes as possible so she can turn all her creative recipes into a cookbooks. Mrs Wahid’s spice shop sounded like a a quirky shop with its ceiling high shelves and all those drawers and nooks plus a finicky dog to boot. And who wouldn’t want to visit a flower shop that uses books new and old as part of the displays? Funke’s worksmithing skills brings all of these people and places to life in a way that will thrill the soul of any ELA teacher and make every reader certain they all really exist.
Highly recommended for libraries serving grades 4-6 with high circulation in realistic fiction. The relatively low page count of 225 pages will make this Text in the arc is free of violence and sexual content and only one “damn” (totally unnecessary and I have no clue why it was included and hope it’s not in the final copy). Funke’s characters are from diverse backgrounds and reflect the mix of cultures present not only in Brooklyn but everywhere.
Thanks for the electronic ARC, NetGalley.
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