Children’s books about cannabis

Books explaining pot to kids.

As a parent, cannabis user, and someone who works in cannabis, I have wrestled with how to position pot to my kids. I explain that it's something adults take for medical or personal reasons and it's not for kids.

There are plenty of books explaining why kids shouldn't use pot. Here we look at books that attempt to explain to kids why adults consume pot.

Reading these books, I remembered I'm not alone in working to figure out how to explain weed to kids. Many of these books are written by cannabis evangelists, often folks who have experienced something of a personal medical miracle with marijuana and want to spread the gospel. It's not that kids should be using this powerful plant; it's that they might understand why someone in their family is going to a dispensary or getting weed delivery at home.

We've read these Children's books about cannabis

We're reviewing these as we get our hands on them:

What’s Growing in Grandma’s Garden? (2019)

by Susan Soares (Author) and Gustav Davies (Illustrator)

In this book a grandmother hosts her son for an adventure in her garden. They harvest a range of plants. Grandma's knees get sore and she needs something from the locked greenhouse. Later in the book you can see her smoking a joint under a tree in the distance. There's a certain knowing quality about that illustration in particular. Otherwise the concepts Soares uses to normalize cannabis could be helpful for people approaching the conversation with kids. Aside from being a children's book author, Susan Soares is the organizer of the State of Cannabis conference series in Southern California. Gustav Davies is a Swiss-based artist and illustrator.

Walter the Wizard and the Magic Seed (2020)

by Allison Littlefair

This is a book written by someone who has seen the potential for cannabis particularly CBD to help kids with epilepsy. Once you understand something like that deeply it's hard to sit still. The author Allison Littlefair is based in the UK which has moved slowly to allow medical cannabis access. This book attempts to build understand and support for cannabis and CBD to improve lives through a range of fantasy creatures.

These we haven't yet gotten our hands on:

• It’s Just a Plant: A Children’s Story about Marijuana (2011) by Ricardo Cortés
• If A Peacock Finds A Pot Leaf (2013) by by Morgan Carman (Author) and Geneva Carman (Illustrator)
• Why Mommy Gets High: A Conversation Starter for Parents Who Smoke Pot (2021) by by Wendy Brazill (Author) and Daniela Teichmann (Illustrator)

Also we have yet to get our hands on the Stinky Steve series. Here's how the author launched the series in 2013:

Millions of people use cannabis, also called marijuana, for a wide range of medical reasons. However, because there is still social stigma attached to cannabis use, many people who care for children hide or lie about their medication. Stinky Steve is here to help adults discuss responsible medical cannabis use with the children in their lives. Let Stinky Steve facilitate a conversation about cannabis use and safety in your home!

Before we have read Stinky Steve, we admire from a distance the range of titles:

• Stinky Steve Explains Medical Marijuana: An Educational Children's Book About Cannabis
• Stinky Steve Explains Grandma's Growroom: An Educational Children's Book about Cannabis Cultivation
• Stinky Steve Explains Mommy's Medibles: An Educational Children's Book About Consumable Cannabis
• Stinky Steve Explains Daddy's Dabs: An Educational Children's Book about Cannabis Concentrates
• Stinky Steve Explains Kids Who Use Cannabis: An Educational Children's Book about Pediatric Pot
• Stinky Steve Explains Why Papa's In Prison for Pot: An Educational Children's Book about Criminal Charges for Cannabis
• Stinky Steve Explains Cannabis and CPS: An Education Children's Book about Social Services
• Stinky Steve Explains Medical Marijuana-Canadian Edition: An Educational Children's Book About Cannabis
• Stinky Steve Explains Casual Cannabis-Canadian Edition: An Educational Children's Book about Recreational Reefer

As regulations evolve and cannabis becomes more normalized these kinds of books might become less necessary.

I remember the crestfallen look in my kid's first grade teacher. She asked me what I did for a living, and I said I worked in digital services for the cannabis industry. I was already volunteering in the classroom; I imagined she looked disappointed since she wouldn't feel comfortable inviting me to give a career talk to the kids.

Working in adult-serving goods & services can have a social cost for parents. Over time books like these could help reduce that.