Eco-Libris: 20 Easy Ways to Help Save the Earth

This post was originally posted on Eco-Libris blog on June 1st.

Soccer is a great game and I used to play it every day when I was a kid. I love the game and therefore I enjoyed every page of our book today that got its inspiration from the (littered) soccer fields and is written by a soccer coach.

Our book today is:

20 Easy Ways to Help Save the Earth

Author: Coach Pedro and Susan Adam-Rita

Amarildo Pedro Rita was born in 1962 and has been playing high level soccer in Brazil and has being coaching youth soccer players in the United States since 1999. Currently he is the Director of Developmental Soccer Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan and author of The Magic Soccer Ball series plus The Boy and His Dream, A Great Soccer Tournament, and 20 Easy Ways to Help Save the Earth. Coach Pedro holds a bachelor degree in physical education and USSF “A” License

Susan Adam-Rita was born in a small city in Brazil where she lived for twenty-seven years. A psychologist in her home country, she continued to pursue her studies and currently is a PHD candidate in the counselor education program at Wayne State University. Susan lives with her husband, Pedro, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Illustrator: Murilo Pruner

Ages: 4 – 8

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Published on: December 2008

What this book is about? (from the publisher’s website)

20 EASY WAYS TO SAVE THE EARTH is a book full of great ideas to put into practice that will help you change little things and have a great impact. The main reason for this book is to educate, inspire, and empower children to protect the environment.Written and illustrated in a fun way, Ways to Save the Earth is a book for the whole family to enjoy and share important ideas. We all share this EARTH, so let us take good care of it.

Why you should get it?

This is the first green children’s book I read which is written both in English and in Spanish and it makes so much sense when you think on all the parents and children who feel more comfortable to read in Spanish (and all of those who can use it to improve their Spanish like myself!).

By making the book bi-lingual, the author wanted to reach kids in Hispanic communities and I think this is a great idea that hopefully will be copied by other authors and publishers. One funny thing I noticed though is that the book is designed in a way that each recommendation is presented on two pages – there’s an illustration showing how not to behave on the left side and another illustration showing how we should behave on the right side. Now, the English text is always on the right side and the Spanish translation always comes on the left side – so it looks like the English goes with the wrongdoing while Spanish is the language of the good deeds 🙂

The book itself is full with great advice. You won’t find there any new advice but the book’s strength is in putting all of these recommendations together and showing how simple it can be for children (and their parents) to go green. Coach Pedro and his wife, Susan, created an easy and understandable guide, full with beautiful illustrations, for every kid who wants to support the environment and don’t know where to begin or already begun and looks for further ideas.

Coming from the land of Pele, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka and many other soccer legends that became a model and inspiration for millions of children around the world, I hope Coach Pedro will also find his way to the hearts and minds of many kids and will succeed to influence them, this time not only to play soccer, but also to support the environment both on and outside the soccer field.

If you want to learn more about Coach Pedro and his work, you are welcome to visit his website – www.coachpedro.com