Josephine, my four year old daughter, is a voracious reader. She skips the nonfiction section for children, which contains information about animals, ecosystems and environmental issues, and heads straight for the storybooks. Her brain is wired to learn stories, just like most humans. She loves talking animals, fighting between good and evil, and kids who go on adventures.
These books are so inspiring to her imagination. I’m also an environmental journalist and appreciate those books that teach Josephine to be a good steward. Fortunately, a slew of new childrens fiction weaves together suspenseful storytelling and beautiful illustrations to introduce four-to-eight-year-olds to heavy topics like climate change, pollution, and deforestation. These books give children hope and a sense of agency, so they don’t feel powerless. Here are some of our favorite books.
Wombat Underground: A Wildfire Survival Story, Written by Sarah L. Thomson, illustrated by Charles Santoso
Josephine is a resident of the American West, which is prone to wildfires, and she’s curious about how animals can withstand threats to their homes. Wombat UndergroundThe story is set in Australia, and shows how many creatures managed to survive the country’s devastating 201920 wildfires by finding refuge in underground wombat caverns. This story is filled with drama and danger as well as explanations about fires in Australia and Australian wildlife at the end. It shows how wild and wild communities can be more resilient when they work together.
Water Protectors are WeCarole Lindstrom wrote this book. Michaela Goade illustrated it.
Carole Lindstrom is a Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe author. Michaela Goade, an illustrator from the Tlingit, Haida tribes, won last year’s prestigious Caldecott Medal. Water Protectors are We. The story follows a young girl who discovers that a black snake will soon threaten her people’s water, animals, land, and land. When the snake appears in the shape of an oil pipeline the girl must join her local community to fight for the people who are unable to fight for themselves: the winged, crawling, four-legged, two-legged, plants, trees, rivers and lakes.
The story was inspired in part by the Standing Rock protests, as well as other Indigenous-led resistance acts. Itspoetic language and beautiful illustrations make this book accessible to all communities that are fighting to protect their homes.
A Recycle Story is Better Than New, Written by Robert Broder and illustrated by Lake Buckley
Better than new, Patagonia published a picture of two children from a small fishing community in Chile that shows a sea lion trapped in a fishing net. Julian and Isidora, two children from a small fishing village in Chile, take the net out to the ocean and make new clothes for the beach.
Recycling can be difficult for children to grasp. This book shows how you can transform trash into something useful. It inspired a change in our family’s behavior. We now put all our trash in the recycling bin and turn our food scraps into compost. While I admire Patagonias commitment to helping the environment, this bookwhich coincideswith the release of quick-drying infant and toddler-size shorts from recycled fishing netsalso feels promotional.
The Keeper for Wild WordsBrooke Smith wrote the book. Madeline Kloepper illustrated it.
This story is about a grandmother and her granddaughter who search for words that may be lost from the English language. (Wren,Buttercup, minnow, monarchRecentlyTaken from the Oxford Junior DictionaryTo make space for words such as Database voicemail.The grandmother explains that wild words can only be kept from being lost. So she takes her granddaughter on a hunt through fields, woods, and meadows to find them.
I love the narrative arc of The Keeper for Wild WordsIt is a journey. Children and caregivers can search for and learn more about the language of nature on their own. Josephine and me went out to our neighborhood to search for sage, scrub jays, and pions after we had finished reading the book. The act of uttering the words loud was a way to pay attention to the world around you. This, we learned from the book is the best way for something to stay the same.
Zonias Rain ForestJuana Martinez-Neal, Illustrated and Written
Zonia, an IndigenousAshninka girl from Peru, is captivated by the creatures she shares her world with. One day she meets a clear-cutforest, and realizes that the rainforest needs to be protected. As inWater Protectors are WeThis book demonstrates that those who know a place best are better equipped to defend it against ignorant and ill-informed outsiders. Bright illustrations printed on banana-bark papers from local sources, as well as additional information and a translation of Ashninka language at the end. Zonias Rain ForestOffers a window into a new way of life for curious kids