The Green Kingdom is a charming middle-grade novel that seamlessly blends mystery, botany, and personal growth. Twelve-year-old Caspia's reluctant move to Brooklyn for the summer sets the stage for an unexpected adventure. Discovering a bundle of vintage letters containing plant-based riddles, she embarks on a quest that leads her to explore the city's hidden green spaces and forge new friendships.​ What sets this book apart is its unique premise—using botanical riddles as a narrative device to connect past and present. The riddles are thoughtfully crafted, offering readers both entertainment and education about various plants and their significance. Caspia's journey is not just about solving puzzles; it's about personal transformation and finding one's place in an unfamiliar environment.​ This novel is a testament to the idea that adventure and discovery can be found in the most unexpected places—even in the heart of a bustling city. It's a perfect read for young readers who enjoy mysteries, nature, and stories about personal growth.

Excellent book, as you would expect from the wonderful Cornelia Funke. It was a lovely tale and I enjoyed the puzzle element too. Will definitely be recommending this to my book group and customers.

I came into this book thinking it would be another of Cornelia Funke’s magic fantasy worlds and instead found this incredibly wholesome story about the world around us. The Green Kingdom focuses on the magic and history of the world around us, of plants and flowers and herbs. I enjoyed reading Caspia’s story of reluctance to enjoyment as she spreads her wings and explores through the letters she finds. The mysteries of each plant were a great framing device and fun as the reader to try and guess themselves. I found the ending a little rushed and would have liked more about Caspia’s return to Maine or time in Brooklyn, especially as she gets more riddles that are solved off page. However, overall I had a really good time and it left me with a happy and cozy feeling.
I’d definitely read this to my class in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley, DK, and Cornelia Funke for the chance to read this e-arc in exchange for an honest review. The Green Kingdom is about a young girl who moves to New York with her family and struggles to settle in as she misses her friends. But she finds a bundle of letters with riddles leading to different places around the city and the importance of plants. I loved this story, I found Cornelia Funke through the Inkheart series when I was a child and I hoped I would love this book too. I loved the illustrations throughout the book and the threads of environmentalism felt right for the target audience for the book. I think children from 6-12/13 would love this book and anyone who wants a light and cozy read.

This story was fun, adorable and utterly charming. I loved Cornelia Funke as a child but wasn’t sure how I would feel going back to her as an adult, but honestly I would read a whole series of books just like this one. It was such an enjoyable experience.

The riddles were my favourite part. I guessed four of them right (and was kicking myself over a fifth). They were easy enough to have a crack at without google, though the clues seemed like they’d be easy to search for so if anyone wants to do it that way, that’s also reasonable, and they were just so fun to try and guess.

I also loved how this book was so rooted in a love of nature. These books made me want to track down some of the trees and plants featured on my own!

The only thing I wasn’t sure of was the representation of the blind letter writer. From my own experiences with blind people, I wasn’t sure it was accurate that she’d be able to tell what plant is represented in embroidery just by feel. It doesn’t work that way.

Overall though, I was completely charmed by this book and would 100% read it again.

I enjoyed visiting the Green Kingdom so much. This captivating story is full of environmental awareness, positive emotions. and friendship.. It lends itself to drama, art, and a host of other activities.
It is also a lovely book to read aloud in installments.

When I first saw the cover, the title and the name of Cornelia Funke I immediately assumed this was going to be a fantasy middle grade. Well it is a middle grade but a fantasy it is not. That however doesn't change that this is still a splendid book for kids.

Caspia is not going to be spending her summer the way that she wants to. With her friends in her little town, eating ice cream. What is she even suppose to do in a big city like New York? She feels like it might eat her alive. But when she finds a bundle of letters in the appartment that they are renting, a mystery starts that sends her through all the corners of Brooklyn.

This is just a very cute story about a young girl who gets uprooted out of her comfort. Her focus on the riddles and her curiousity makes her forget that she initially isn't comfortable. That way she makes some friends. She learns that you can put down root in more places than just one.

It will also perhaps make some kids curious about all the different plants and their historical applications as the riddles shared a lot about those kind of things. It certainly made Caspia interested. She even made her own window-sill garden.

I liked that her parents weren't non-existant in this story. They weren't constantly there, she was old enough to go out by herself. But they were apart of her life. They knew that she was out making new friends and being interested in plants. Her mom even went along to figure out if she could make a recipe with every plant that Caspia found.

Overal a fun middle grade story.

A rather lovely book, showcasing a love for the natural world, and delivering on its promise of new friendships, mystery and solving riddles. A heartwarming tale for children.
The book ended rather abruptly, which made me wonder whether some pages were missing from the end of this ARC!

Caspia is upset about having to spend the entire summer in Brooklyn instead of at home in Maine with her friends but things take a surprising turn when she finds a bunch of letters between the previous occupant and her blind sister
Giving her riddles to plants
She soon finds lots of adventure friends and fun as
I liked the diversity in those book and the riddles were a little fun
But I was a little bored reading it
It just felt a little ploddy and o just wasn’t interested enough in plants to appreciate it

This was a really nice book with lovely illustrations that brought the book to life. Caspia has to move to Brooklyn during the school holidays and she’s not happy, but she’s finds these old letters in the rented flat. These letters give her clues to find a plant and makes her summer fun. This was a very informative book, taught me a few things about plants. The girl is fun and bright finding out ways to find out the clues about the mystery plants. Will be a great book to gift to a young child. A fun 4 star read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

I loved this book, it was magical even though it wasn’t fantasy and filled me with so much joy. The story follows caspia who has to spend the summer in New York as her father has to work there. She’s sad to be leaving her friends but soon makes new friends and discovers new things after finding 10 letters with riddles about plants. Each riddle took her on a new journey, a new adventure even to find out more about the plant. I loved trying to solve the riddles and see how caspia would explore each plant. I loved that her mum would try to incorporate the plants and herbs into her cooking. I love that the book promoted plants, cooking, and travel and made those things seem so alive in so few pages, and that people like Mrs wahid and Margaret were so enthusiastic for caspias adventure. I also loved seeing the sibling bond through the letters, that was really quite special and touching. It was a wonderful adventure that I would recommend to readers of all ages

The Green Kingdom is a beautifully atmospheric tale that blends fantasy with a deep appreciation for nature and storytelling. This was my first book by Cornelia Funke, and it definitely won’t be my last!

The story follows siblings Caspia and Fox, who find themselves in a mysterious, sentient forest after fleeing danger. As they navigate this lush and unpredictable world, they encounter creatures both wondrous and menacing, all while uncovering the secrets of the Green Kingdom. Funke’s writing is vivid and enchanting, making the forest feel like a character in its own right.

I loved the themes of resilience, found family, and the bond between humans and nature. While the pacing was a little uneven in places, the magical atmosphere and compelling storytelling kept me hooked. Fans of lyrical, immersive fantasy will find a lot to love here.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

A girl upset at being uprooted from Maine to the dizzy world of Brooklyn for the summer comes across a cache of old letters, where a blind lass on her travels had teased her city-dwelling sister with a set of riddles by post, whose answer was always a tree or plant. Not only charmed by the quirk of the friendship, she finds that she also likes the idea of the wildlife, and her mother inventing recipes involving it, and the geriatric spice seller down the street (who has stashed "one of the most important spices in the world" way out of the way up a ladder), AND the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. Yes, for a story that shows the lass have a rethink about her new situation, this certainly layers and hammers on the different plus-points that persuade her to change her mind. I mean, there's a hunky yet sensitive boy in it too...

This is about the community the girl – Caspia – can generate that shares her love of plants, and eating plants, and discovering trivia about plants as seen in the clues in the letters. It's about how you might be able to spread your wings and fly – like a dandelion – to put down new roots – like anything – and be changed so much, like an apple tree never having the same fruit as its parent.

It's also, for a few cockamamie pages, about how unendingly bad slavery was, and how nothing else matters. And that's a reminder that this is actually very unevenly written. It has the clunky, unedited feel of something written very easily and quickly. It also – if you take the modern text messages out of it – is something that feels written in the late 1950s, when the letters were first sent, not in 2025. I'm putting that down to how gentrified, village-like and genteel Brooklyn is here, and how twee the whole concept is. Someone's been reading that saw The Guernsey Eel Pie and Mash Society, and that's not exactly hard-hitting, now, is it?

But it's not as bad as all that, and I can agree I'm probably not the target audience for this. It's certainly not the book you might expect – any adventure in the Green Kingdom would probably have you imagining children being shrunk to grass-height and having a fantasy romp. This is a very different kind of adventure, and one that suggests that however paved-over our world is, we can still have adventures with foliage and floral things. It's that sentimental message that will make this a charm for the right reader, and they will pour scorn on my three-and-a-bit star rating. Me? I'll just turn another leaf...

When fourteen year-old Caspia has to move from a small town in Maine, to Brooklyn, because of her dad's job, she thinks her world has come to an end. After finding some letters containing nature riddles, which she sets out to solve. Along the way, she meets many new people and finds that the world is a much wider place than she first realised.
As a teacher, I would recommend this to Y4 - Y6 teachers.

This is such a sweet book!!

I absolutely loved this sweet adventure of plants and friendships and finding new versions of yourself. The ending was as sweet as I hoped it would be throughout the book, and I was so invested in the characters the whole way through.

I'm an adult but I love Cornelia Funke's novels, her world building and storytelling.
This is an excellent one, perfect of children and adults
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you to NetGalley and DK Children for a free e-ARC of 'The Green Kingdom' by Cornelia Funke.

The Green Kingdom follows 12 year old Caspia who is staying in New York with her parents over summer. She isn't happy about this but quickly changes her mind when she happens upon some old letters containing riddles all about citizens of the 'green kingdom'. She meets new friends and comes to learn about and appreciate plants and the world along the way.

This was such a wholesome short read! I haven't read anything from Funke before so I went into this relatively unaware of what to expect, but I would've loooved to have a book like this when I was growing up. It was such a lovely mix of entertaining and educational. Although it is a children's book, I really enjoyed it and I can see how younger readers would appreciate the way the story is relayed. I learnt a lot myself! I also loved how this story dealt with some heavy topics, such as racism, sexuality, and climate change, in a way that was appropriate for the age of the typical reader without being condescending.

I am tempted to buy a physical copy when this comes out as the illustrations looked beautiful in the ARC, however couldn't be shown in all their glory on my kindle!

This was a warm hug of a book - it was so nice to have a MG read that was pretty much issue free. It is all about family, friendship, gardening, the environment and adventures but in such a gentle way that it never feels preachy or didactic.
It reminds me so much of classic books where there is adventure and mild peril but that everyone gets home for tea and a hug before bed.
It made such a change from the fantasy books that dominate this age range.

I read this with my oldest granddaughter with the idea that she could use the book to organise activities for the younger ones over the Easter holidays. She is very fired up with the idea of reading the book together and then organising a similar set of clues / riddles around our own garden and the local parks. We both loved it !

I decided to start this over my first coffee of the day before getting to my chores. A few hours later and I've finished it, now all I want to do is plant herbs, cook and drink herbal teas!

Caspia and her parents are spending 11 weeks in Brooklyn over the Summer. On her first evening, she finds a bundle of letters containing clues to plants growing in the countries that the sender is travelling through.

Caspia spends her days tracking down the plants, growing seedlings and eating food cooked by her mum containing the plant and making wonderful friends along the way. It is absolutely enchanting.

I loved trying to work out the plant from the clues, picturing the spice shop, flower store and Brooklyn Botanical Gardens that featured in the book. I loved that Caspia's mum would try cooking with the various plants.... Some of which blew my mind.

This book is published soon, you should pre-order it now!

Thanks to DK and Netgalley for an e-arc, all opinions are my own.