What Age Should Read the Return of the Plant That Ate Dirty Socks

A children's series past Nancy McArthur, it follows the lives of brothers Michael and Norman and their pets: the sock-eating plants Stanley (the title character) and Fluffy.

It was adapted into a stage play in 2000.

The series includes:

• #1: The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (1988) - Michael and Norman start growing the Amazing Beans that Michael got in the mail, which shortly become a pair of incredible sock-eating plants, much to their parents' distress.
• #2: The Render of the Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (1990) - the family unit goes to Florida for jump break and takes the plants along. While there, they meet botanist Dr. Susan Sparks and her family, who become major supporting characters.
• #3: The Escape of the Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (1992) - it'south summer holiday, and the plants have learned how to pull themselves effectually on their own with their vines.
• #4: The Surreptitious of the Plant That Ate Muddy Socks (1993) - As a new school year begins, Pet Plant Solar day approaches... and the borderline for Michael and Norman to effigy out how to get their parents to let them keep their plants for good. Meanwhile, Michael makes an astonishing discovery nearly the plants' origins.
• #v: More Adventures of the Institute That Ate Dirty Socks (1994) - The family goes to visit a museum near Dr. Sparks' dwelling, including an exhibit of robotic dinosaurs and a paleontology dig.
• #vi: The Plant That Ate Muddied Socks Goes Upwards In Space (1995) - An astronaut who one time attended Michael and Norman'southward school is going on a big mission in infinite, and Stanley and Fluffy are recruited to help out.
• #7: The Mystery of the Establish That Ate Muddied Socks (1996) - Things are going missing around town, so the boys and their plants set out to catch the culprit.
• #8: The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks Gets a Girlfriend (1997) - While at a rare found sale, Stanley meets another constitute and falls in love... and the feeling is common.
• #9: The Establish That Ate Dirty Socks Goes Hollywood (1999) - The latest Swamp Monster moving-picture show is going to exist filming in boondocks, and the boys and their plants get involved.

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This series provides examples of:

• Annoying Younger Sibling: Norman, to Michael.
• Big Eater: The sock-eaters become bigger and hungrier in about every book. By volume five, Stanley's upwardly to six a night (a trait his Evil Twin shares) and Fluffy, who's slightly smaller, eats five a night.
• Bizarre Taste in Nutrient: The plants and their gustatory modality for socks, of course, but the humans get in on it also from fourth dimension to time - book ii has Norman making a grape jelly and lettuce sandwich for himself, and baked bean sandwiches in afterwards books, which Michael picks up on.
• Bouquet Toss: In book v, when Shawn Smith is getting married, his wife tosses her bouquet, which is caught by a friend of hers who plays basketball. Earlier, when he's told about this, Norman thinks Shawn should have one to toss too, so the person who catches the bride's bouquet will have someone to marry right and then and in that location, but is told it doesn't work like that. (Traditionally, the groom would toss the bride's garter for the same purpose, only this is never mentioned and doesn't happen at this wedding ceremony anyway.)
• Brick Joke: In book three, the brothers and Mom pack up twenty-7 smaller plants and have them to Dr. Sparks' workplace, but take to stop at a motel overnight, where one constitute falls over behind a chair. In book iv, Dr. Sparks finds the missing plant at the same motel, and once they figure out where it came from and Mom explains things to the motel's staff, the plant is turned over to Dr. Sparks.
• Bunny Ears Moving picture Prank: Near the end of book ii, when the family is getting prepare to head abode, Dr. Sparks has all 4 kids line up for a grouping motion picture. When she looks through the camera, she sees that all of them are looking and acting lightheaded, and Michael is pulling this trope on Sarah. She takes the flick anyway.
• Commander Contrarian: Norman almost always disagrees with Michael about things just for the sake of disagreeing, and if Michael tells him non to do something, he'll insist on doing it anyway, only to annoy his brother. Michael even lampshades this in volume three, thinking to himself that if he keeps opposing Norman's idea (in this example, to put on a stage show to brand money), it'll but make Norman even more adamant to do it. Michael tin can be the same manner when it's Norman urging him to do things.
• The Dog Bites Back: Jason treated his plant poorly, and it started trying to hurt him in return.
• Edible Ammunition: Norman tends to load his Super Splasher H2o Equalizer with strange nonetheless edible things, such as maple syrup (for pancakes), grape jelly, orange juice, mustard (for hot dogs), tomato plant juice (to aid wash skunk odour off Fluffy) and chocolate syrup (for frozen yogurt), which tends to lead to large messes. He also suggests loading it with ketchup once, only goes with the grape jelly instead.
• Evil Twin: Jason, having swiped some of Stanley's seeds, plants one for himself, merely mistreats the resulting plant, causing it to become this to Stanley. Fortunately, Norman tames information technology so the family can sell it to a botanical garden... but in book five, it's acting up once again until Norman shows its new owners how to arrive deport (which involves a lot of talking and singing to it), helping information technology go better over again.
• Exploding Cupboard: This trope happens 3 times in the very first book, all to the same person. First, when Michael is bribed to make clean up his room, he really only shoved everything in the closet; Norman finds out the hard manner when he opens the door to find i of his hats and gets buried in an avalanche of junk. The 2nd time, when he opens the door to search for missing socks, Norman is fully expecting this trope, only is but cached in junk up to his knees. The third time, he's trying to detect his Super Splasher Water Blaster to water his establish and gets completely buried again (much to his annoyance, as Michael had told him he'd tossed nigh of the junk in their room out the window).
• The Food Poisoning Incident: In book ane, Stanley eats Michael's acorn collection and a library book (retconned into a plastic toy race motorcar in future books) and gets a little sick. In volume 2, Fluffy gets slightly ill from eating a muddied sock, and later accidentally eats a sock with a tiny musical microchip and battery and is horribly poisoned. Fortunately, both plants survive these events (in the second case because Dr. Sparks performs surgery on Fluffy to remove the microchip from the vine that had sucked it in).
• Mucus Humongous: Played with in book 4, where it'south mentioned that scientists discovered an entire underground fungus that shoots up normal-sized beloved-colored mushrooms all over the identify. The fungus as a whole is said to counterbalance one hundred and ten tons, cover thirty-seven acres, and be at least fifteen hundred years old. This is actually true.
• Funny Answering Automobile: When the family unit gets an answering machine in volume 5, Norman and his friend Bob kickoff calling from Bob's firm and leaving silly letters, and then rush back to hear themselves on playback. Later on their parents put a stop to this, Dad teaches Norman how to record an actual message so he won't use it equally a toy anymore... only for Norman to secretly rerecord it, except this time he sings it to the tune of "Camptown Races". Mom and Dad aren't pleased, but at least one caller compliments them on having a song on the machine.
• Gasshole: The plants ever burp subsequently sucking in a sock. Fluffy also says "Ex" later on because Norman tried to teach him to say "Excuse me".
  • Book 3 has Dr. Sparks tape several plants eating at the aforementioned time and send the family a tape of the noises, which is described as sounding like a "symphony of schlurps", followed by "a burp concert". All of them are cracking up by the time information technology's done.
• Gossip Evolution: In book 5, Michael tells a few of his friends about his family going on a weekend trip, which will include a one-night stay at a natural history museum with some other kids and a field trip to a dig site the twenty-four hours afterward. One of their nosier classmates overhears and spreads it, and Norman tells several of his classmates too. This trope takes its course, and Michael hears several equally wild versions by the end of the day (even the primary isn't immune to believing one of them, coming upward to Michael and congratulating him on going to Mongolia to detect dinosaur eggs and being somewhat disappointed when Michael corrects him); the side by side forenoon, when said master hears the rumor has evolved to involve a live tyrannosaurus on a subversive rampage in Cleveland, he puts a stop to the gossip past announcing the truthful story over the PA.
• Incessant Music Madness: Norman loves to sing, and is incredibly loud when he does it. Information technology drives his brother up the wall.
• The Joy of X: "The X That Ate Y" is the format for both the serial title itself and the in-universe book "The Glob That Ate Outer Infinite".
• Killer Gorilla: Jason owned a rubber gorilla mask, but traded it to Michael, who later traded information technology to Norman, who likes to pop out of various places and surprise people with it. Information technology pops upwardly at to the lowest degree once in each of the first half dozen books.
• Music Soothes the Barbarous Beast: Norman tames Jason's plant in role by singing to it. He passes the technique on to the plant's new owner in book 5.
• No-Sell: At one point in volume i, the family goes out to dinner, and Norman puts on his gorilla head to surprise their waitress. When the rest of the family orders a big pepperoni pizza, she'due south completely unphased past Norman's appearance, asking just "And what volition your gorilla take?"
• Not And then To a higher place Information technology All: Stanley, while usually well-behaved, displays a bout of immaturity in book seven when he hides Michael's book after Michael had been paying more than attention to it than to Stanley. Luckily, Michael realizes why Stanley was interim out, and is understanding rather than upset.
• The Substantive Who Verbed: Both the series title itself and the in-universe book "The Glob That Ate Outer Space".
• Origin Story: Book i explains that Michael sent away for some "Astonishing Beans", planted one and gave the other to Norman to close him upwards for a while. The beans quickly grew into the titular sock-eating plants.
• Out Of Control Popcorn: In book 6, Norman and his friend Bob make up one's mind to make popcorn, merely can't detect the top to the popper. They decide to first running it anyway, and a massive mess ensues when they can't observe the pinnacle, or an alternate covering, in fourth dimension.
• Paste Eater: The plants eat socks, of course (though they also like orangish juice), with their favorites beingness fudge ripple (white with brown stripes), though they too similar white (vanilla), pinkish (strawberry) and dark-brown (chocolate). It'southward later revealed that their prehistoric ancestors ate bugs, merely Stanley and Fluffy don't care for them.
• Picky Eater: Stanley prefers muddy socks, while Fluffy only eats clean ones (unless he's drastic - in book 2, he does eat a dirty sock and gets sick from it). Some of the plants, including Jason's, also display a preference for sure colors, such as white with brown stripes (which the characters refer to equally fudge ripple season). Stanley likewise prefers Michael'south socks over anyone else'southward, though he does eat socks worn by other people in books 2, 3 and vi out of necessity.
• Planimal: The titular plants are fully mobile and have displayed learning tendencies.
• Punny Name: Book 8 introduces a plant named Curly Temple.
• Retcon: Book ane has Stanley getting sick from eating some acorns and a library volume. In future books, it's changed to his having gotten sick from eating a plastic toy race car.
• The Reveal: Book 4 reveals that the plants are descended from a species that lived during the dinosaur age.
• Revenge of the Sequel: In-universe, Michael and Norman have seen a movie chosen The Swamp Monster. In book 6, Norman discovers a sequel, Son of Swamp Monster. Out-of-universe, every unmarried sequel includes the phrase "The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks" and some qualifier such as The Render of..., The Escape of... and so on.
• The Runaway: Norman, in book 4, because he's then angry at his parents for wanting to transport the plants to a botanical garden and desperate to continue Fluffy. Information technology's a spur-of-the-moment thing, and leads to him falling off a cliff in the park... fortunately, Fluffy grabs him and keeps him from falling whatever further until help can arrive. Fluffy's deportment to salve Norman lead to the parents deciding they can't go rid of the plants.
• Undercover-Keeper: Jason becomes i in book 1. The sock-eating secret gradually spreads to others, such as Dr. Sparks (though she doesn't believe it at first) and her family in volume 2, and from them to other botanists in volume 3. By volume 5, certain museums and botanical gardens are openly displaying others of their kind as sock-eaters, and it comes out to Michael and Norman's entire school during the events of volume half-dozen.
• Show Within a Show: Book 1 mentions a book that Michael owns, "The Glob That Ate Outer Infinite", and the "Swamp Monster" films are mentioned a few times throughout the serial. Volume vii introduces an unnamed series of kids' horror novels that Michael and his classmates are fans of.
• Sibling Rivalry: Michael and Norman have a constant rivalry going on… but will put it aside when they accept a mutual goal, such as trying to keep their plants.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Amidst other things, Michael'due south a slob, while Norman's a Swell Freak.
• Slice of Life: Most of the books deal with the characters' normal lives… which have been somewhat complicated by the arrival of the titular plants.
• Smelly Skunk: Book 4 has a skunk approach the titular plants when they're in the dorsum yard. Having previously been approached past a cat and squirrel that started bothering them, the plant Fluffy doesn't wait to go pawed or clawed - he simply grabs the skunk to move it abroad. This proves a bad thought, equally the panicked animal immediately sprays him, causing him to "pass out". The family, when they find out, take to tow Fluffy to a car wash and clean him off with tomato juice (and then rinse it off very fast then the salt in the juice won't hurt him) to de-stench him as a result.
• Spy Speak: In book 1, Michael and his friend Jason start using codewords for the plants and their favorite nutrient (referring to socks as pancakes, and later ice cream) in public. This gets dropped pretty quickly, though not before one of the nosier girls overhears them talking about "fudge ripple pancakes" and wants to know how to make them.
• Stuffed into a Trashcan: Happens twice to Norman. In the first book, equally Michael is sorting the piles of junk in his side of the room into boxes, Norman tries to jump over said boxes and falls into the i marked "Throw Out or Give Away". In the second book, the family has rented an RV and is going to Florida for their vacation. Norman, who is up and about when they're moving at one betoken, loses his balance, causing him to fall backwards into a plastic trash can and get stuck, much to Michael's amusement.
• Talking to Plants: Norman likes to talk and sing to Fluffy, usually at the tiptop of his lungs. Michael talks to Stanley as well, but quietly so he isn't obnoxious about information technology like Norman can be. In book vii, he discovers that Stanley specially likes existence read to.
• Tentacled Terror: Referenced during the showtime book, when Michael stays upward late to picket a monster picture show featuring a giant octopus attacking Tokyo (there's too a mad scientist).
• This Is My Side: In the first volume, after arguing about putting upward walls to split their room (which their mother vetoes), Michael and Norman wind up putting a line through their room so Michael can proceed his messiness on his side and Norman can keep his neatness on his side. Norman promptly starts knocking back anything that might be even the slightest fleck over in his side, and Michael retaliates by strewing things around even more than on his side if in that location'south a bare spot on his one-half of the floor.
• Trash of the Titans: At the commencement of the series, Michael's half of his and Norman's room is this trope. Described as looking like a junk heap, it'southward so bad that "When [he] was forced to make his bed, starting time he had to detect it."
• Vacation Episode: Book 2 sees the family unit going to Florida for a few weeks. Book 5 has a smaller version where they visit a museum and paleontology dig for a weekend.
• Water Guns and Balloons: Throughout the series, Norman winds up causing quite a bit of chaos with his Super Splasher Water Equalizer and the odd things he loads it with.
• When Trees Attack: While non a tree, Jason's constitute is pretty hostile at times, to the point where it actually attacks people who go within range. Fortunately, Norman is able to tame it.

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Source: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/ThePlantThatAteDirtySocks

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