April 21, 2020
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day with a great book about the environment
Today marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The event was first launched in 1970 as a response to oil spills, smog, and polluted rivers, and people from all over the world are now coming together to tackle the climate crisis. Did you know that the UN Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016 was signed off on Earth Day?
Each year, Earth Day has a theme; this year’s is climate action. While life as we know it has been put on pause during the lockdown, many major cities have reported cleaner air and water due to less people travelling around. This really drives home the importance of taking action to tackle climate change, and in turn educating children about ways to do so.
At Renaissance HQ, our Green Team are dedicated to coming up with fun and innovative ways to reduce our impact on the environment. So why not do the same at home this Earth Day? What better time to test your knowledge on climate change with one of the below titles picked by our Content team?
We’ve chosen some great fiction and non-fiction titles that are sure to get kids exploring issues around climate change and the Earth.
If you’d like to learn more about this year’s Earth Day and how to participate, check out the official website here.
Our Earth Day picks
With all the inside info on Greta and her movement, Planet Greta is packed with facts about the leading activist. It also includes quotes from her inspirational speeches and information about climate change, making it perfect for all those future-Gretas among us who want to know more about how they can help combat the devastating effects of global warming.
Nominated for the Carnegie award this year, Swimming Against the Storm is “an adventure novel for our time”. Set in Louisiana, it follows a group of friends searching for a legendary creature in a landscape that will soon be submerged due to the rising sea levels.
The quiz writer, Peter, said, “It explores the impact climate change could have on wildlife and a community, and how humans are adding to it through oil and gas. This is a great book to help develop understanding of a global issue.”
Good to be Green is a series of six environmental education books from Wayland that help young readers explore green issues. Kerry said, “Each book features a fictional story about a child learning why it’s important to ‘think green’, interspersed with facts. They’re great for showing kids achievable actions they can personally take, swapping toys with their friends, for example, to reduce their footprint.”
Somebody Swallowed Stanley is a powerful fictional story about plastic pollution from environmental expert Sarah Roberts, in which Stanley the carrier bag finds himself being blown into the ocean. The sea creatures there mistake him for a jellyfish and keep trying to swallow him, causing all manner of problems. Beautiful illustrations by Hannah Peck help young readers understand how plastic pollution can harm animals.
In Emily Hudd’s How Long Does It Take For Rubbish to Decompose?, children can go on to research just how long it takes for different materials to decompose and learn fascinating facts about the process.
myON choices:
Recycling is Fun is a digital title for very early or beginner readers. Featuring very few words, the book promotes the idea of helping the planet by keeping it clean, and separating your rubbish.
Children interested in the science and engineering behind cleaner energy should check out Raintree’s Energy Revolution series. It takes a look at four of the most common sources of clean energy being used today: solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower. Test your knowledge by taking all the Accelerated Reader quizzes afterwards!
For all those fans of graphic novels, join Max Axiom on another adventure as he learns all about global warming and what he can do to save the planet.
Book details for titles included in this post:
Planet Greta by Emily Stead
Scholastic | BL 6.6 | MY | Quiz # 237848
Rubbish or Recycling (Good to be Green) by Deborah Chancellor
Raintree | BL 3.1 | LY | Quiz # 236704
Somebody Swallowed Stanley by Sarah Roberts
Scholastic | BL 3.0 | LY | Quiz # 237839
Swimming Against the Storm by Jess Butterworth
Orion Children’s Books | BL 4.4 | MY | Quiz # 237865
Wind Energy (Energy Revolution) by M.M. Epoch
Raintree | BL 3.1 | MY | Quiz # 236704
How Long Does It Take For Rubbish to Decompose? by Emily Hudd
Raintree | BL 4.7 | MY | Quiz # 237792
Recycling is Fun by Charles Ghigna
My Little Planet | LY
Understanding Global Warming with Max Axiom, Super Scientist by Agnieszka Biskup
Raintree | BL 6.1 | MY | Quiz # 216447