In the Great Green Room… Sustainable Children’s Books
Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau has quickly become a favorite bedtime book in our household.
I’ve started collecting children’s books – both literature and crafts books – with an environmental theme for our kids’ library. Here is a brief list of what I’ve found so far, with reviews.
Manfish: The Story of Jacques Cousteau by Jennifer Beme boasts incredible artwork and a gentle message packaged with M. Cousteau’s biography. I’ve wrapped it up with the equally gorgeous Ocean Seasons by Ron Hirschi for a beautiful and educational ocean-themed kids’ birthday gift.
Another lavishly-illustrated picturebook series to look for is Barbara Bash’s series on trees of different continents and the ecosystems they create. The watercolours are breathtaking. So far I have In The Heart Of The Village: The World of the Indian Banyan Tree, and Tree Of Life: The World of the African Baobab. I think I’ll give the kids the rest of the set as a Christmas gift.
Jen Green’s “Why Should I?” series is better suited to a younger audience. I found Why Should I Protect Nature? a bit heavy-handed, but then, I’m not 3 to 4 years old. My youngest (age 2.5) liked it fine.
Recycle: A Handbook For Kids by Gail Gibbons (for 6-8 year olds) and The Three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle by Nuria Roca (for 3-6 year olds) walk kids through what happens to things after we throw them away and talks about why recycling is important, without being too preachy. Roca’s book has inspired my crafts-obsessed five-year-old to want to make recycled art, so I’ve also sought out used copies of Recycled Crafts Box by Laura C. Martin (which is organized by starting material and includes environmental sidebar articles), and 50 Recycled Crafts for Kids by Marion Elliot (organized by type of project, with only a brief tacked-on introduction about the importance of recycling).
Lynne Cherry’s The Great Kapok Tree is widely viewed as an enviro-classic. How could she go wrong with a book about not cutting down the Amazon released in 1990? It still resonates, and the paintings are lovely. Her latest book is a factual photographic tour of the science of global warming, How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate.
David Suzuki’s Nature In The Home is on my to-buy list.
Follow these links to see what has been recommended by other bloggers:
Jennifer Lance’s list on Green Options
Kelli Best-Oliver’s list on Green Options
on ecofabulous: My Body My House, Think Green!, William Is Going Green, and books by Earthwise Kids
NatureMomsBlog review of Barefoot Books’ offerings
EcoLibris’ blog review of Planet Earth Gets Well
http://www.ecobooks.com/catalogs/ecochildrens.htm
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6540858.html new eco-books from Little Simon
Tags: books, children, going green, kids, reviews