I am glad to see that authors are writing books for children on climate change. Rising Above Global Warming, written by B. J. DeFrancesco and illustrated by Shari Lynn Myers, is the story of a father and son. The father, named Dee Nile, does not believe in global warming and owns polluting factories. The son tries to talk to his father about the effects of climate change they are observing, and his father’s standard reply is “poppycock”.
Rising Above Global Warming is the first children’s book I have read that deals with the denial many adults have about climate change. I imagine many children try to have conversations with their ignorant parents on the subject, similar to the characters in this book. Eventually, as the ocean rises, snow melts in the mountains, and the beloved birds leave the town of Terra, Dee Nile realizes climate change is real and happening. The characters then make positive changes, such as planting trees and powering the factory with wind power. Their efforts pay off, and the effects of climate change are reversed. DeFrancesco explains:
My story is positive. It empowers children to get involved and not be afraid to act. I want them to know they can make a difference. The bottom line, it is not too late to do something about global warming. It starts with one person making a difference, then it escalates.
Although I like this book, and it discusses climate change in terms children can understand, I am not too sure about the resolution. The global warming effects seen by the inhabitants of Terra are not reversible: the polar ice caps will not be restored once they have melted nor the oceans recede. In trying to give children hope and simplify the message, the author misleads children slightly, besides I think the part where the fish have salt shakers to resalinate the ocean a bit odd. If we take action now, yes we can stop these catastrophic effects of climate change, but if we wait…
This is great! Teaching the next generation at a young age. I’m finding that my daughter thinks about global warming more than I would have thought.
What about older children series book? Have you run across any of those? My daughter and I love series books, especially ones with the same characters.
How old is your daughter. My daughter LOVES Gaia Girls; it’s a series.
http://eyr.lil.mybluehost.me/2008/03/03/book-review-1-of-7-gaia-girls-enter-the-earth/
there’s this great website that if found that has tons of helpful information to make the everyday topics of a mothers life seem a bit less overwhelming…http://hrbaby.com/
Jennifer,
Thank you so much for taking the time to review my book. I appreciate your comments. I would like to share with you some of my thoughts regarding your final paragraph of your review.
RISING ABOVE GLOBAL WARMING is targeting readers ages 4-9. The book is not a nonfictional account of global warming. This book is a fictional story with scientific terms on global warming interwoven throughout. The cause/effect/solution is accurate and scientifically correct. My children book is designed to be the first book parents use to introduce their child to global warming.
I introduced the fish with salt shakers to lighten the topic a bit. Initially, the ice that melts will introduce fresh water into the oceans and upset the balance of that ecosystem. So in essence on the short term the fish were trying to help fix their habitat that man had started to destroy with the burning of fossil fuels. The fish had salt shakers to imply that creatures will do whatever necessary to survive. We both know that fish wouldn’t use salt shakers but when tackling a complicated and scary topic, I wanted to add some humor. I was hoping the parents could use this as a point of discussion on fact and fiction.
This reduced salinity would disrupt the thermo-haline pump, which controls the currents and affect the weather across our globe. Unfortunately, I have a limited number of pages to deal with when writing a children book. I didn’t want to introduce this terminology considering the age group I was targeting. Also, given enough time and if global warming continues to heat the earth evaporation actually would increase the salinity in the oceans over the long term.
Your view on the end of the book that I am misleading children is interesting and you were the first person with that perspective. I must share with you that I wanted a happy ending for the book. I did state that Terra was saved, however my thinking was that the effects of global warming can be reversed. I showed this reversal with the returning of the Terra-birds.
Your comment on the returning of lost ice is true and upon further reflection I can see how you could draw that conclusion with the picture of the ice and snow gone on the mountain tops. At no point in my book did I say that all the ice at the poles were gone. The ice caps in the book were melting at an alarming rate; hence the response of planting trees and replacing fossil fuels with wind power was two of many solutions for reversing the effects of global warming. This reversal would slow the ice melting at the poles.
I had one parent share with me that wind power wouldn’t work in some parts of the country and it would have been better if I went with solar power as a solution for global warming. Again, the pages of a children book are limiting and as an author I had to make decisions on what to include and what I wanted to accomplish.
You were the first person to draw the conclusion that the book was misleading. Believe me–I did not intend that to happen. So, when Terra was saved the best scenario was to begin to reverse the effect of global warming. Children need to have hope that something can be done and accept their role tackling future challenges.
RISING ABOVE GLOBAL WARMING is designed to be the first book parents would use to introduce their child to this important topic. This is why there is a glossary at the end of the book with fun games to help reinforce those educational terms. The other key objective of the book was not to scare the child and give them hope for the future. I am hoping the positive approach will help empower children to want to get involved in tackling this key environmental issue as adults.
I respect your perspectives and comments on my book. Like I said, you were the first with that conclusion and I wanted to share with you some insights as an author when I wrote this book.
Thanks again for the time you took to review my book and the comments made. You have some great sites and good luck with the fine work you are doing.
B. J. DeFrancesco
Also highly recommend “The Last Little Polar Bear” a children’s book by Dr. Tim Foresman
http://www.lastlittlepolarbear.org
Particularly cool (pardon the pun) since a portion of the sales will go to Inuit Tribal Councils to help in their fight to save irreplaceable Arctic regions…I’m planning on reviewing it as a gift book pick for ECP and for Shaping Youth in time for the holidays! 🙂
Is there a way to become a content writer for the site?
If you are looking for more eco-friendly children’s books published by an eco-conscious company, I recommend Barefoot Books.
Another great eco-friendly children’s book I have come across is Baby Lauren and Theodore by Deborah Sherrell. Check it out here.
http://www.babylaurenandtheodore.com/
I think you need to add nore to the site such as things that we could all do to try to stop global warming e.g solar panels,wind power