It's Just a Plant: A Children's Story of Marijuana

by Ricardo Cortés

It's Just A Plant is a beautifully illustrated story that tells the tale of how a child learns about marijuana, the most widely-used illegal drug in the world. It is a tool for parents to use in creating conversation that educates, rather than merely frightens, their young children about cannabis use. It's Just A Plant provides honest and helpful information about the plant that puts the safety of children before politics.

Genres: Nonfiction, Childrens, Picture Books, Parenting

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Ricardo Cortés is an artist, illustrator, author & publisher.

He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

[Emily✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting idea, and I can appreciate the intent behind this book, but unfortunately I think the execution is a flop. I thought this book would be more on the nonfiction side, but instead it's a story of a child learning what marijuana is over the course of a day. The book doesn't contain any actual stats, laws, or medical information, and there's no "further reading" section at the back. As a story, it was pretty boring, and some weird choices were made. (For no discernible reason, the story takes place on Halloween, though this is only evident in the fact that the little girl and her mother are in costumes while they bike around the city learning about weed. As an added bonus, the little girl's costume is just generalized "Asian clothing"-- I know this is an older title, but you'd think since this is an "updated" edition they would have ditched the cultural appropriation.)

I think this concept could work as a nonfiction book with reputable sources of information, but as-is I don't find it useful. 1.5 stars

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this eARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review!

[sastrapertala · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kata yg ngirim, ini buku ttg cimeng buat anak2.. hehe.. Dan itu memang benar adanya. Saat membaca lembar demi lembar halamannya, jadi ingat suatu masa yg sudah lampau, ketika aroma ganja kerap melintas sejenak di hidung saya kala menunggu jadwal tiba bus atau kereta. Saking seringnya sampai hafal aroma itu.. hehe.. Untung cuma hafal aroma ya, bukan getol ngisapnya :P

Tapi yg jelas, buku ini sangat jujur dan, ya, faktual. Dengan proporsional, masalah ganja dibahas dari berbagai perspektif, oleh berbagai jenis manusia. Cukup adil :) Saya sih mungkin tipe yang bakal lihat2 dulu apakah anak saya (kelak..hehe) bakal diperbolehkan atau tidak baca yg macam begini. Bukannya dilarang sepenuhnya, tapi dilihat dulu, anaknya sudah siap atau belum untuk mencerna informasi seperti ini. Meski begitu, alangkah menyenangkannya jika ada lebih banyak buku sejenis di Indonesia yang membahas berbagai persoalan saat ini tentang toleransi, lingkungan hidup, kasih sayang antarmanusia... Yah, semoga saja.

[dori · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOOOOOVE this book. I had one of the original copies, and sadly it was ruined by Greyhound shipping (don't *ever* use them) in route from Portland, Oregon to New Mexico. Ricardo was kind enough to dig up another copy from the original hardcover series and send it to me, this time inscribed to both me and my daughter-in-utero.

There's a fundraising campaign to raise enough money to produce the third edition of this book - check out this url at Kickstarter to participate!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually very sweet,very colorful, something I can definitely see buying for friend when they have kids. Informative and kind of revolutionary at the same time. Walks kids through the uses, history and laws surrounding marijuana: written with with an eye towards how it should only be used responsibly by adults and that the laws surrounding marijuana are primarily political in motivation instead of being motivated by people's health of best interest.

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

Working in a library means providing information to those who are looking for it. This book provides information about a topic that has become taboo in our society. I hope one day that changes but for now we have this book to help educate our children and maybe some adults too. If it is time to have his conversation with your child this a great start.

[Andie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful resource for honest & open discussion about why this simple plant is still illegal. It covers all the bases & addresses the real questions children ask. The pictures are captivating & whimsical. I enjoy reading this book over & over myself. :)

[Elmira · Rating 1 out of 5]

As an adult, I found it hysterical, especially the 1970s rainbows. I'm not sure what the author was thinking making this a children's book-I would not buy this for a child of any age.

[U Recife · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s kind of unfair for me, an adult, to be too harsh on my judgement on a children’s book. However, I think this work has some issues that, in a way, kind of defeat the purpose of honoring the title this book has.

First, I want to point out that the artwork, Ricardo Cortés illustrations, are interesting by themselves. They contribute in a positive way to the child-like quality of the book. That’s not an issue with the book. What really bothered me (and maybe bothered is a too much strong of a word) is the narrative driving the point behind the title.

Don’t take me wrong: I think it’s a very honorable goal to defend how cannabis is perceived, and how unjustly it has been treated during the last century by the American political elites (and consequently the world). Nonetheless, where this book fails is in its attempt to make a grown-up issue into a child-like narrative. The result is not a tale for children, but a a grown-up attempt to make a child story from everyday facts surrounding grown-up problems with not being able to use marijuana.

To put it differently: this book doesn’t make the marijuana issues relatable to a child. Grown-ups world is a very complicated world. Any child, curious as children are, with no difficulty will find many contradictions and nonsensical issues in how grown-ups deal with their worlds. So it’s kind of obvious that you can pick any one of those issues and point out how contradictory and nonsensical they are. However, this doesn’t make a very good children’s tale.

So what disappointed me upon reading this book was the lack of creativity (on the story part, mind you) in promoting a dreamscape of sorts where cannabis and its issues would be the center and the starting point for a child to change its outlook on what cannabis is and how it is treated.

Before I sound too harsh on my criticism, and in order to take the point home, I’ll return to the beginning of this critique. I’m an adult, and by that measure I’m not the best judge of a children’s book. My issues with this work are more grounded in my disappointment by seeing here a lost opportunity in making this a more interesting book, both to the child and for the parent/relative seeking an insightful take on the issue.

Is it worth to pick it up and read it for the child? Is it worth for the child to read it? Can’t really say. Judging by the title, it seems to me that either the parent or the child will be kind of disappointed if they think it’s “a children’s story about marijuana”. Maybe it would deserve a better rating if it was treated as it really is, a story about parents having to explain to their child how weird grown-ups treat the marijuana plant.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book - being located in a farming community when marijuana was legalized in my state, there was so much buzz about how this would change the farming industry, create jobs in all sectors (even scientists that would test the potency!), and decriminalize its use. Now, years later, marijuana use is no more a drug epidemic than it was before legalization - after all, it's just a plant.

I think I got caught up too much in the adult discussions of marijuana that happened in the book - while I absolutely loved the girls' visit to the farm, the awkwardness is palatable in the scene with the black men being arrested for marijuana, where a cop takes time out of her day to explain to the child that they are just "doing their job" while enforcing unjust laws. That is A LOT for a kid with little context of civil rights abuses, the war on drugs (which was really just a war on black communities), the school-to-prison pipeline, racism in the criminal justice system...But I also think that's my United States-centric view.

I also thought that the scene with the cop was very much not how a child would have behaved, when they just the night before saw their parents smoking marijuana, and then seeing a person almost incarcerated for the same action. Most children would be terrified to think of their parents being arrested, and would they also wonder who they could safely tell about this experience? Would they have to hide this fact from others in order to keep their parents safe? The addition of the very real and very scary possibility of jail time for marijuana just doesn't ring true in this story.

Another side note: this book was originally printed in China, where the penalty for marijuana is severe. I guess I just am not sure about this book due to the changing attitudes all around the world about the drug. Even though I believe it's "just a plant", and that we should educate children instead of scare them, I don't believe this book does that part well.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

It does a good while unrealistic job of outlining Cannabis and Cannabis culture. A great place to start with kids to explain to them what the plant is, how it works and how to prevent abuse. It's optimistic, but children's books should be. Overall if recommend to anyone with a non negative view of Cannabis.

[Lulu Cares · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could be a good teaching book. I like that the parents are open to explaining and exploring. But why does it take place randomly on Halloween?I do love the vibrantly colored and expressive illustrations. I’m not sure their costumes are politically correct🧐
Thank you Ricardo Cortes

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

[Jewel Thompson]

I read this at a bookstore to kill the time. It was pretty dope😉

[Jonah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this because it's important to teach kids about drugs in a nonjudgmental way but it's literally copaganda lmao

[Elfdart · Rating 5 out of 5]

the plot behind this book is basically stated in the title, it’s attempting to get rid of the boogeyman stories surrounding marijuana because it’s just a plant. this little girl goes around and learns about marijuana, what it is, where it comes from (a plant, grown by a farmer like other plants), a history about it, a doctor’s perspective and so on. it isn’t promoting marijuana or encouraging children to use it, as i would suppose would be one of the first suppositions to pop into one’s head when they hear about a book like this, in fact there’s even a part in the book where some guys get arrested for using marijuana. it’s purpose is to help educate children on just what marijuana is.
i think this book is beneficial because people fear what they are ignorant of and people abuse the forbidden. as an example, when i was younger, probably around 5 or 6, my nonno would put a few drops of wine in my sprite at dinner time. alcohol was never forbidden to me and if i wanted some all i had to do was ask (of course i wasn’t given a whole lot, but it’s the principle that’s important). as a result of this alcohol was never a big deal to me as it was to some of my friends and while they were getting pissed drunk at 13, i would drink an appropriate amount so as to not even get dizzy or abstain all together. the point of the story is that the forbidden is very attractive, and while we all know this, this knowledge isn’t put to good use very often. of course there must be forbidden things, that comes with having even an inkling of some sort of morality, which even the most ‘amoral’ person is guilty of possessing, but to make forbidden something that need not be so is foolish in my eyes. marijuana is less harmful than a lot of glorified substances in society that are much more harmful to a person’s health. people fear marijuana for reasons that aren’t true, or for no other reason than someone told them it was bad, without any basis.
don’t get me wrong, this isn’t some tirade on how ‘marijuana’s so great’ or ‘kids should all be smoking marijuana’ or similar such lines of thought. i believe that all children should have the power of education to help them assess the world and that that education is important is because all children will come into contact with marijuana at one point or another in their lives (some much earlier than others), and i would prefer that they not see it as a big deal. marijuana is just a plant, a very misunderstood plant, and we should be able to see marijuana as just that, a plant, like corn and tomatoes, not through the jaded perception of society that would have us believe it’s some scary boogeyman.
you can get more info on the book’s website

[Bunga Mawar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bagus nih, kalo semua orangtua seperti orangtua Jackie di buku ini. Mau menerangkan pertanyaan anaknya sampai ke sumber2nya.

Jadi ingat beberapa tahun lalu, waktu babysit sepupu saya di Aceh yang waktu itu masih TK. Dia tanya macam2, banyak deh. Saya jawab aja semua, sampe dia kehabisan pertanyaan :). Saat saya sudah balik ke Jakarta, ibunya menelepon ibu saya, karena sepupu saya itu jadi nggak mau berhenti tanya semua hal, padahal ibu dan bapaknya udah ga bisa jawab lagi, hihi...

Makasih kirimannya ya, Mas Ronny.

[Dewi · Rating 2 out of 5]

ha?

Kaget adalah reaksi pertama saat membaca judul buku ini.
Marijuana/ganja adalah salah satu topik yang tabu dibicarakan dengan anak. Lebih mudah membahas pendidikan seksual :p
Penjelasannya menurut saya bagus, namun kurang suka dengan nuansa pro-marijuana. Dikatakan orang dewasa boleh mengkonsumsi bila itu pilihannya, sedangkan anak tidak boleh.
Ada figur dokter yang menyatakan bahwa memakai marijuana tidak apa-apa, namun kurang menjelaskan efek pemakaian secara rinci dan mengapa harus memakai. Menurut saya bagian ini berkesan permisif bagi anak.

[Brittanie Rieu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was actually a shocking find. I had no idea that you can buy children's books about illegal drugs. This book addresses the drug as a plant, and tells kids about how it is just a plant and nothing more than it. I would probably give it to an older child, because it's a bit higher level thinking.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 4 out of 5]

715th - 2011

Katanya dulu ganja memang cuma tanaman biasa kok, bisa disayur atau jadi lalapan. Tapi setelah ada yang iseng menjadikannya barang isepan (opo to iki?), ga bisa dibudidayakan sembarangan lagi...

Lalapan daun ganja dengan sambal dadak pedes kayak gimana rasanya ya...?

[Georgie · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's a cute book, I'm not into the illustrations so much but it's a different way of introducing this topic with your kids.

[Simona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting book if you want to teach your child about weed. The great message of this book is to educate your child and present him the real facts instead of frightening him.

[Meaghan R. (YA-aholic) · Rating 3 out of 5]

mehh....and the grammar was off....

[Alexis]

I loved this book. I'm not sure what age would be appropriate or if it would be appropriate to talk about in school, but marijuana is being used to treat children with seizures and other medical issues. I would love to recommend this book to parents and would use it with my own children.
2005
Genre: non fiction