Old Enough to Save the Planet

January 1, 2021

Gr 2-5-This nonfiction picture book introduces 12 children from around the world who made positive impacts in their communities to help save the planet. Each spread spotlights a different activist, explains what each child did, and why their activism was so important. For example, Adeline Tiffanie Suwana, an Indonesian girl, formed a community group at age 12 called Friends of Nature to address the cause of flooding. The text explains how planting trees helps the environment and human life, the benefits of water conservation, reducing food waste, and more. Vibrant, expressive pen and ink illustrations supplement the text. The end of the book features helpful tips on how to get engaged in environmental activism as well as further reading. VERDICT A great purchase for school and public libraries that highlights how children can effect change.-Kristen Higgins, Nanuet Public Library, Nanuet, New York

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2020
An international gallery of young eco-activists, assembled to demonstrate that it's never too soon to get going. Except for a group of unnamed Chinese children who set up an "ecological field" near their school to demonstrate water-conservation strategies, all of the entries here focus on the initiatives of specific individuals. These youngsters range from tree planters, like 9-year-old Felix Finkbeiner of Germany and 12-year-old Adeline Tiffanie Suwana of Indonesia, to Brooklyn "Earth Saver Girl" Wright of Atlanta, Georgia, an African American child who dresses as a costumed superhero and created an eco-comic at age 7. (Greta Thunberg presumably is well known enough not to be included.) Each is shown hard at work, usually lecturing or leading racially diverse groups of recruits in planting, composting, picking up litter, or recycling. Lirius depicts South African Hunter Mitchell snuggling up to a baby rhino and New Yorker Jordan Salama (both appear White) handing a banana to an orangutan in the wild...experiences that most young audiences are unlikely to have. Still, along with depicting plenty of rather more feasible eco-activities, the illustrations are strewn with undulating lines of helpful descriptive notes and cogent warnings about the consequences of destructive practices, from air and water pollution to poaching. Kirby also lays out credibly doable suggestions at the end, plus a list of relevant, child-friendly websites. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 80% of actual size.) Inspiring fare for the next generation of world savers...and their younger sibs. (Informational picture book. 6-10)

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2021
Grades 2-4 With climate change--and the urgent need for each of us to do our part to reverse it--now undeniably on our radar, the question of what to do and how to help can be overwhelming. This book features 12 children from around the world who have shown exceptional determination and success in doing their part. Their work is far-ranging: reducing traffic pollution, eradicating single-use plastic, campaigning against rhino poaching, turning school food waste into garden compost, and more. Each two-page spread features one of the activists, briefly describing their work and noting its importance. The descriptions are not extensive, but readers are given just enough of a taste to inspire and motivate. They will notice that every featured child is surrounded by a community of people also participating in the work, that these heroes are one among many. The illustrations brim with flora and fauna, light and color, and smiling people who are happy in their responsibility as caretakers of the planet. A timely and charming book.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2021
Two British teenage sisters speak out against single-use plastics; a twelve-year-old in Indonesia organizes to prevent flooding; a seven-year-old South African boy advocates for endangered species. With minimal text and engagingly detailed illustrations, this book introduces twelve young eco-activists from around the world. Each inviting double-page spread offers one or two brief paragraphs outlining an individual's focus and initiatives. Additional information appears in smaller-type captions whimsically integrated into the illustrations. Ten things that "help to save the planet," ten ways "to make your voice heard," and a list of related websites conclude a book with lots of appeal to browsers and visual learners.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)