Don't Eat Me! the Almost True Story of Belladonna - Hardcover

by Kate Finney (Author), Esmé Shapiro (Illustrator)

From award-winning illustrator Esmé Shapiro and debut talent Kate Finney comes the unforgettable story of Belladonna, a spunky, beautiful plant who must learn to survive--even though she can't flee from those who want to devour her!

One of New York Magazine / The Strategist's Best New Books for Kids Published in 2025!
One of Betsy Bird's Top Funny Picture Books of 2025!

Everyone in the forest knows about Belladonna--that tall, beautiful plant whose berries are so delicious that they're forever being gobbled up. Day after day, poor Belladonna is nibbled at until there's almost nothing left of her. But unlike the animals who can leap, climb, or fly away, Belladonna, being a plant, is firmly rooted in place. So what's a plant to do to survive?

This is the story of how Belladonna learns to harness her own chemical powers to protect herself and her descendants . . . and how she learns from a great cast of plant and animal characters--culminating in a dandy pheasant--that no one ever survives alone.

This one-of-a-kind picture book is gorgeously illustrated by Esmé Shapiro with wit and humor, and has an astonishingly epic framing that carries Belladonna across eons into her final, powerful form!

Author Biography

Kate Finney grew up among familiar trees on the outskirts of Philadelphia. She is the recipient of Vassar's Ann E. Imbrie Prize for Excellence in Fiction Writing. She splits her time between Brooklyn and an island in Maine. Esmé Shapiro grew up in Laurel Canyon, California, and Ontario, Canada, and is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. Her previous picture books include Ooko, which was nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award in 2016. Shapiro also illustrated Yak and Dove by Kyo Maclear, Eliza: The Story of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton by Margaret McNamara, and A Garden of Creatures by Sheila Heti. Shapiro lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband, Daniel, and their two dogs.