Environmental issues are a daunting topic for any age, but can feel particularly overwhelming when addressing the youngest generation. How can we instill our children with hope when there is so much fear of the future? The most important thing we can do is to start teaching them young about the planet and how they should treat it. Climate change is a constant threat and one they will inevitably come to know and face, so don’t hide it from them. Find stories that capture the issues, but present them as ones that can be overcome with positive environmental actions. Teach your children that they can be the change we need to see with these four children’s books that urge them to protect the planet.
The Last Wolf by Mini Grey
The Last Wolf is a twist on the familiar fairytale that has survived and evolved for centuries, Little Red Riding Hood, highlighting the importance of environmental stability. Little Red sets off from her village to catch a wolf, but once in the forest, she’s stricken by the lack of wildlife around her. When she eventually runs into the Last Wolf, she is invited to tea at his home, which he also shares with the Last Bear and the Last Lynx.
There, she listens attentively to the stories of her new friends; stories of the steady destruction of their natural habitat, which has led to the dwindling numbers of their forest friends. After being chaperoned home by her enemy-turned-friend, Little Red begins her plans to restore the damage to her friend’s home by learning to plant trees to repopulate the forest. Stunningly and humorously detailed illustrations with a message that instills children with the reality of deforestation and the importance of protecting the world around them, The Last Wolf is a must-read. A story of friendship and hope, teaching children that they can be the change the world needs.
Rocket Says Clean Up! by Nathan Byron and Illustrated by Dapo Adeola
A sequel to Byron and Adeola’s debut book, Rocket Says Look Up!, brings young Rocket back to readers with an invitation to a new mission: saving Jamaica’s beautiful ocean from plastic pollution. When Rocket goes to visit her Grammy and Grampy in Jamaica, she’s heartbroken to find a baby turtle trapped in plastic on the beach. Realizing the threat pollution is to this beautiful island and the sea life that calls the ocean their home, Rocket becomes determined to make a difference: she’s on a mission to clean all the plastic off the beach!
Rocket’s enthusiasm and care for the world around her jump off the page thanks to Byron’s vivid character creation and Adeola’s beautiful and engaging illustrations. This book is sure to bring out a passion for environmental care in your children and teach them to be the change they want to see in the world. Rocket Says Clean Up! is the perfect way to educate and inspire young kids on the value of marine conservation and the harm of plastic pollution.
Greta and the Giants by Zoë Tucker and Illustrated by Zoe Persico
Inspire your budding environmental activist with the true story of a young girl who stood up against the giants of capitalism to lead a global movement raising awareness over the world’s pressing climate crisis: Greta Thunberg. Reimagined through allegory, Tucker and Persico reframe Greta’s story as a young girl living in the forest who becomes threatened by giants coming to chop down trees for their houses. The greed of these giants steadily grows as they cut down more and more of the forest for their homes, which steadily become towns and then grow into cities until there is hardly any of the forest left.
Greta feels a responsibility to protect the animals who live in the forest, but the giants refuse to listen. When the animals approach her for help, she decides to make herself small as a form of peaceful protest. Though the giants won’t listen to one voice, as other people and animals join Greta, the giants begin to see their behavior in a new way. With every purchase of Greta and the Giants, a donation is made to Greenpeace. Teach your child to stand up for what’s right 一 even when the giants of the world try to stand in their way.
Maybe You Might by Imogen Foxell and Illustrated by Anna Cunha
A story of unquenchable hope and the power children hold over the future of our planet, Maybe You Might is an inspiring story of one young girl who defies all expectations by turning the barren landscape of her home into a flourishing ecosystem. Narrated in the first person, a young girl tells the story of her desert home that was once alive with rivers and trees. After finding a seed one day and planting it in a nearby dried-out river bed, the young girl waits for the seed to grow despite the protestations of those in her community of the impossibility.
The narrator protects and nurtures the seed constantly until it prospers into an amazing fruit tree that, in turn, produces more seeds that can be planted. Though the land begins to flourish, the young girl insists that we can never grow complacent; we must always ensure the growth of our environment. Foxell and Cunha create a poignant demonstration of the power of the younger generation, with another young child producing seeds and carrying out the narrator’s work. The threat to our environment is great and at times it can seem without hope, but Maybe You Might pleads with its readers to never give up, no matter how great the fight may seem. Children are the hope of our planet; show them that their efforts won’t be in vain with this moving children’s book.
I think we all wish we knew more about the ways we could help the world around us from a younger age. Being taught positive behaviors at a young age is crucial for children’s development. One of the most important ways we can make a change today is to instill a passion for the environment in our younger generations. These stories are ones of hope and are the perfect way to teach your children about the precarity and beauty of the world around them.
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