by Jennifer Lance on September 16, 2008 · 3 comments
We get a lot of press releases and review copies of children’s environmental books; however, I don’t get very excited about many of them. Either they try to put too much information in or they try to be creative to appeal to children but instead misinform children. 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World: Fun and Easy Eco-Tips by Melanie Walsh is different: it is both developmentally appropriate and informative.
Made from 100% recycled material, 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World has delightful illustrations and cut out pages. Each page features a tip with a simple explanation of why the tip is important for our environment. For example, “I try…to turn off the tap when I brush me teeth. Every time you do this, you save eighteen glasses of water.” The 10 tips are: [read the full article...]
by Jennifer Lance on September 9, 2008 · 0 comments
The BogeyBugz is a series of four environmental adventures by Martin Lever. The books are inspired by five-year-old Remi Gene Lever and follow the BogeyBugz Manifesto:
NOBODY NoSE WheRE theY CamE from.
BUT THEY’RE HERE, HAND-PICKED TO SAVE the WORLD.
BEFORE BEDTIME.
BeCauSE EVERY NOW and AGAIN,
MOTHER NATURE NEEDS SOMEONE
TO PICK-IT FOR THE PLANET
The BUGZ don’t condone nose picking…destruction of the forests or any other anti-social habits.
I absolutely love the illustrations in these books and the fact that the destruction of the forest is considered anti-social behavior (would someone please tell the Bush administration?); however, the resolutions in the stories don’t really work with the environmental problems they are trying to solve. The end page of each book is filled with “facterias” that I wish were more part of the plot of each environmental adventure. [read the full article...]
William is Going Green, written by James Martin II and James Martin III, is the story of a garbage truck that loses his job, because he is too polluting. In search of a new job, William travels from town to town until he finds a green, clean city. He is told he could be hired as a recycling truck, if only he had a hybrid engine. Unfortunately, out-of-work William does not have the money for a new, cleaner engine, until he rescues a cat from a sewer. The cat Gage belongs to a mechanic, and William is given a hybrid engine and coat of green paint in reward for the rescue. The author explains, “My son James III and I created the William the Garbage Truck & Crew series to share what we learned about global warming and the benefits of conservation.”
My son, like many boys, adores trucks. He enjoyed William is Going Green when his sister read it to her, but there is one thing about the story I find a bit awkward. I do think that city garbage trucks should have hybrid motors, but as mentioned in the book, the cost to convert a truck is expensive and not readily available. William’s reward for rescuing a cat is not the solution for most city garbage trucks, and I think it is a little misleading to children who really want to see change. Perhaps there is another way William could have gotten a new hybrid motor from recycling proceeds, donations, gas taxes, etc. Maybe I am too much of a realist, but I like my green children’s fiction to address the realities of environmental change. This part of the story didn’t bother my children at all, and they really did like it. [read the full article...]
Trout Are Made of Trees, written by April Pulley Sayre and illustrated by Kate Endle, is the story of how a river’s ecosystem works together for the benefit of the trout. From leaves falling from the trees to trout hatchlings growing up in a stream, this book emphasizes the natural cycle of a trout.
In fall, trees let go of leaves,
which swirl and twirl
and slip into streams.
They ride in a rush
above rocks
and over rapids.
They snag and settle soggily down.
Bacteria feed on the leaves. [read the full article...]
When doing research for another post, I discovered David Gershon’s Journey for the Planet: A Kid’s Five Week Adventure to Create an Earth-friendly Life. I wondered what children would be encouraged to do and how this compared to other books providing “eco tips” for young people. This book is unique, as it creates a game for the children to play alone or in teams as they implement actions as part of the climate change solution.
You are about to go on an amazing journey-one that will help you and the planet. It will be fun, challenging, and exciting. Over a five week period you will learn how to take action to use our Earth’s precious and limited natural resources with greater care. [read the full article...]
My Bag and Me!, written by Karen Farmer and illustrated by Gary Currant, is a cute rhyming board book about the benefits of using reusable shopping bags. The little boy in the story has his own shopping bag he takes to the store. He also reminds his mother to do the same.
Then it’s off to the checkout where we’ve all been before. I hand over My Bag and say, “Paper and plastic no more!” We feel really good when our shopping is done. We’ve saved so many bags by using this one!
My Bag and Me! comes with a reusable, small shopping bag. My only criticism is that the bag is made from Tyvek, a Dupont product. Dupont doesn’t exactly have a clean environmental record, and Tyvek is not as long lasting or washable as a cloth shopping bag. Furthermore, the bag and book both claim to be 100% recyclable, although I’ve never seen Tyvek accepted at a recycling center, and neither bag nor book are made from post consumer content.
500 billion paper and plastic bags are used each year globally! These “free” bags actually cost $4 billion dollars a year, and thus consumers pay the price for them in other ways. It is also staggering to consider that it takes 1,000 years for a plastic bag to decompose, and we have all seen the litter they create. [read the full article...]
Whether you are Christian or not, children love to hunt for a basket full of goodies on the springtime holiday of Easter, which this year falls very close to the spring equinox. My childhood memories of Easter are filled with fake, green plastic grass, gross gooey marshmallow bunnies, and of course, the ubiquitous chocolate bunny. My children’s Easter gifts are a much more eco-friendly than those of my youth. Here are a few ideas I have come across this year for an eco-friendly Easter:
- Green Gift Ideas: Stubby Pencil Studio is now carrying wooden toys. The Spinny Speller is great for teaching children phonemic awareness and reminds me of the homemade phonics mediators my grandmother used to make for her first graders. The Made By Me wooden kits are perfect for little hands to decorate and assemble. Both toys are made in the USA. Stubby Pencil recycled cards and eco-art supplies also make nice additions to your child’s Easter basket. The cards now come in eco-friendly packaging consisting of a custom button/string tie envelope made from 30% post consumer recycled paper and green seal certified. [read the full article...]
It’s already March, which means it is time to get into the garden! One of my greatest challenges when I first became a parent was to figure out how to garden with young children.
At first, I tried to rush out during their naps and frantically weed, plant, and harvest. Then, I realized I was robbing my children of the incredible experience of learning about plants and growing their own food.
Previously, I wrote about 10 Tips for Organic Gardening with Children. Recently, I discovered Molly Dannenmaier’s book A Child’s Garden: 60 Ideas to Make Any Garden Come Alive for Children. Wow, 60 ideas…that beats my ten!
The photographs in A Child’s Garden are incredibly beautiful and inspiring! Featured in the photos are innovative examples of how to create special natural places for your children in the garden, such as mazes, paths, out-of-the-ordinary sandboxes, child-friendly ponds, peepholes, etc. [read the full article...]
