Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees

Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees
By Franck Prevot
Illustrated by Aurelia Fronty
Charlesbridge, 2015. Biography.

I had never heard of Wangari Maathai before I found this book, and once I flipped through the pages I was pretty shocked and disappointed at myself. This picture book biography very succinctly explains the life of the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. It talks about her childhood in Kenya and her sadness when British Imperialists started to raze the trees in Kenya to plant tea, coffee, and tobacco. It touches on her excitement when her brother asked her mother to let her go to school with him - at a time when many African girls never even learned to read. Mostly, it shares her beautiful and simple message - that planting trees provides hope for today and forests for tomorrow.

I love picture book biographies, but this one stands out to me. Franck Prevot craftily deals with very big subjects like imperialism, segregation, and corrupt governments in ways that are easy for young readers to understand. The illustrations are beautiful, colorful, and bright and in many ways match the hopeful environmental message that 'Mama Miti' spent her life sharing.

Comments

Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick

If there's one book today's kids need to read, it is Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) . The authors provide a fun format for teaching etiquette to children. They discuss proper behavior at home, at school, at other people's homes and in public places. The information is completely up-to-date with cellphone manners and netiquette included. Fun, cartoony illustrations are on practically every page giving the book great visual appeal. This book is perfect for boys and girls in the fourth grade or older. WARNING: Bodily functions are discussed.

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin Illustrated by Leslie Evans Charlesburg; 2009; unpaged Faces of the Moon is a short nonfiction book that describes the different phases of the moon and why the moon appears like it does on certain nights. This book is short and sweet so even the youngest of moon lovers will enjoy it. The layout is simplistic and easy to follow. I don’t know much about the moon so I found it very interesting.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Search This Blog