Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Green Books Campaign - Review: I Can Save the Earth!

Summary: A new “green” series!: Little Green Books will educate children on what they can do to be more eco-friendly. The books in this line will be made from recycled materials, and the storylines will cover subjects such as improving the environment, learning about endangered animals, recycling, and much more.

Meet Max the Little Monster. He is a cute, furry green monster who is an environmental nightmare. Among other things, he leaves on all the lights, keeps his computer plugged in, blasts the TV, hoards his old toys and uses so much toilet paper it clogs the toilet until finally, his excessive ways cause a power outage. With no TV to watch, computer to play on, video games to play with, Max finds there is a whole big world outside that he can make a difference in the environment.

Kids can follow Max the Little Green Monster's journey to environmental awareness and learn tips on how they can become little green monsters themselves. A kid-friendly glossary of terms is included in the back of the book.

This 8x8 paperback is perfect bound and will be printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper with soy-ink. The paper is FSC certified. -- Little Simon

This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today 100 bloggers are reviewing 100 great books printed in an environmentally friendly way. Our goal is to encourage publishers to get greener and readers to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books. This campaign is organized by Eco-Libris, a a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books. A full list of participating blogs and links to their reviews is available on Eco-Libris website.

When I first found out about the Green Books campaign, I knew that I wanted to participate. I thought the entire campaign was a great way to share the importance of "going green" when it comes to books! Fortunately, I was able to receive an adorable picture book called I CAN SAVE THE EARTH!: ONE LITTLE MONSTER LEARNS TO REDUCE, REUSE, AND RECYCLE by Alison Inches and illustrated by Viviana Garofoli. Both of my kids really liked the story and the overall message that we all need to take care of the earth!

The basic idea behind I CAN SAVE THE EARTH! is that Max the Little Monster is a mess! He leaves a trail of trash wherever he goes and he doesn't even like to giveaway his toys even when he's too old to play with them. He lets water run when he brushes his teeth, he uses too much toilet paper, and he even wastes electricity. Until something happens that changes everything -- a blackout! Max realizes that he doesn't need all the "stuff" and that the earth has plenty of things to offer such as the oceans, animals, and flowers.

As a result of seeing all of the natural beauty on our planet, Max decides that pollution makes the world ugly and he starts cleaning things up. He also decides to "fix" all of his other bad habits -- he even watches less television and plays out side more! He learns the importance of the terms reduce, reuse, and recycle; and he is now known as Max the Little GREEN monster! The book ends by encouraging kids to help save the Earth just like Max. It really is just a precious book with a very important message.

I CAN SAVE THE EARTH! is part of a new series of children's books that help kids learn what they can do to be more eco-friendly. This book not only has a great message about being more conscious of what we can do to save the earth, but the book is actually printed on 100% recycled paper. In addition, there is a list of eco-friendly terms and what they mean in the front cover of the book; and there is a glossary in the back of the book which explains many of the green-friendly terms such as compost, pollution, and the ever-important words reduce, reuse, and recycle. After my kids and I finished the book, we actually talked about each of the terms and what they mean; and then we also talked about a few things we could do to make a difference. I love that I CAN SAVE THE EARTH! caused us to evaluate our own behavior!

Thanks to the Green Books Campaign and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book.

6 comments:

bermudaonion said...

Sounds like a great book. I don't think the recycling campaigns stress re-using enough. Getting the message to kids is the first step, though.

Beth F said...

Reusing is important! And let's try to keep things out of the landfill and out of the recycling plants in the first place by supporting such programs as FreeCycle.

Serena said...

Reusing is something that is not marketed enough. We need to create the market for recycled products and reusing. Without education, like these kids books, reusing is unlikely to happen.

Thanks for the great review, though I thought the campaign said all bloggers were posting at 1PM EST.

Brimful Curiosities said...

Simon and Schuster has taken some impressive steps in publishing their Little Green line of books.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

I'll be checking out this whole series of books. Children and parents and teachers are all interested in doing things in a greener way.

Anna said...

I agree that reusing needs to be stressed more, and I try to do it myself as much as I can. The Girl joined the science and environmental club at school, and she's getting a lot of good ideas there. This sounds like a great book. Thanks for the review!

--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric