Ten years ago, it was hard to find inspiring books about the environment. “They’re all sad,” complained my daughter. “Who wants to read about everything dying?” But that was then. Recently, environmental writers have changed their approach, and the last few years have featured a trove of books that balance serious environmental information with energizing optimism.
Mario and the Hole in the Sky, by Elizabeth Rusch, begins by sharing how Mario Molina talked his parents into turning their extra bathroom into a chemistry lab. After he discovered CFCs had caused a hole in the atmosphere’s ozone layer, he undertook a quest to convince world governments to act. Slowly, the hole in the ozone was repaired. The lesson of his story? “We saved our planet once. We can do it again.”
If affirmations like that are helpful to you and yours, you’ll treasure Old Enough to Save the Planet, by Loll Kirby. Its friendly, inclusive color drawings include affirmations such as “I’m big enough to save our trees,” and anecdotes like the one about a kid who does just that. By the end of this book, junior activists will be able to choose a cause and get started!
If your cause actually is trees, your family might enjoy We Planted a Tree, by Diane Muldrow. With inclusive illustrations that carry the story forward, this first-person narrative details the challenges and delights that result when people collaborate to plant a tree.
And if you want to think a little bigger, try Anywhere Farm, by Phyllis Root, which tells how to plant a garden or even a farm. This book’s second-person narrative encourages the reader by declaring, “Where does it start? What do you need? Just one farmer—you—and one little seed."
Kids also need to know they needn’t despair when a seed—or the flower it becomes—meets with destruction. The Digger and the Flower, an instant classic by Joseph Kuefler, narrates a digger’s restoration efforts and suggests that technology and nature can, with care, coexist.
Kate, Who Tamed the Wind, by Liz Garton Scanlon and Lee White, tells a tale in which nature presents both a problem and solution. When winds wreak havoc over a man’s house and land, Kate plants and nurtures tree. The resulting windbreak softens the landscape and wins Kate a new friend.
So how can young people make a difference? Early elementary school kids can get started with the Exploring Nature Activity Book for Kids, by Kim Andrews. Simple as a cookbook, this DIY activity book offers a variety of projects ranging from mud pies to animal habitats.
Older environmentalists might enjoy consulting the two-volumeThe Wild World Handbooks, by Andrea Debbink. One of the volumes specializes in animals. The other volume is dedicated to their habitats. Both offer information, inspiration, and projects to build skills for young environmentalists.
Seymour Simon’s Climate Action: What Happened and What We Can Do expands on the topic of actions kids can take both individually and as a group. While Simon doesn’t shy away from the seriousness of the issues, his clear, direct information and his multiple recommendations offer a sense of agency over the future.
If anxiety and burnout do raise their ugly heads—or better yet, before burnout hits—there is a solution at hand. Introduce your kids to All the Feelings Under the Sun, by Leslie Davenport, a climate-aware therapist who shares both climate information and coping strategies for dealing with it.This sensitive book includes multiple strategies for taking action and building emotional resilience so that budding activists can find the joy that comes from making things better.
To them and to you—Happy Earth Day!