English YA Environmental Activism Sustainability Activism Youth Community Change Accountability Naomi Kline with Rebecca Stefoff summary If you haven’t read The Shock Doctrine, you definitely need to. But, this review is about Naomi’s recently adapted YA book How to Change Everything. As a couple who chose where and how they live based on sustainability, it’s…
Category: STEM
Amara and the Bats
English 4+ Environmental Activism BIPOC Narratives Community Single-Parent Family Nature Pint-Sized Professor Bats Emma Reynolds summary Amara looooves bats! She’s enamored by their fuzzy flying hamster-like bodies and flappy wings. Amara, her mom, and brother Samir love to watch them fly around at the park near their home. When the family moves to a new…
Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh This Is How I Know
Anishinaabemowin & English 4+ Indigenous Voices Anishinaabe Culture Family Nature Seasons Intergenerational Stories Bilingual Books Brittany Luby & Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley summary Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh This is How I Know is a beautiful bilingual book with colorful illustrations and a plethora of Anishinaabe knowledge about the seasons and nature. The story follows a child and…
Let’s Go For a Walk with Ranger Hamza
English 4 years & up Nature Pint-Sized Professor BIPOC Narratives Girls Outdoors CBeebies Text: Hamza Yassin & Hello Halo Productions Limited Illustrations: Kate Kronreif summary A few days ago, our cousins came over and we got the chance to stomp around in the woods for awhile which was just what I needed. This morning when…
The Frog Mother
English & Gitxsan 7+ Nature Gitxsan Culture Indigenous Knowledge Frogs Environment Sustainable Living Hetxw’ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson) & Natasha Donovan summary I can’t say enough about this series, it’s so beautiful! If you’ve been around awhile you may have seen my reviews for The Grizzly Mother and The Eagle Mother, and having my words…
Blood Like Magic
English YA Fantasy Magic Witches Black Culture & Identity Community CW: Blood, Sacrifice, Violence Liselle Sambury summary When you see this title, know that blood is very prevalent within the book. It’s the root of all magic, and used with intent for spells. It also denotes when a witch can be Called by ancestors and…
The Caiman
English 4-8 years Venezuela Friendship Uncommon Pets Kindness María Eugenia Manrique & Ramón París Translated by Amy Brill summary So you might have a friend with an iguana, or visited a shop with a dog or even a chicken (shoutout to the jewelry shop in Town with 2 shop chickens!) but have you ever visited…
Anyone need some space?
English 5 years & up STEM Space Science Historical Figures Imagination Poetry SEL Various, see each book. Space is cool, amirite? Who isn’t preoccupied at some point with what’s up there, only accessible by rocket? I have three books with space as an overarching theme, but in different and creative ways. The vastness of the…
The Grumpy Fairies
English 4-8 years Social-Emotional Learning Fairies Fantasy Humor Bethan Stevens summary Alright folks, we’re about halfway through our moving process right now, and I’m definitely identifying with these grumpy fairies today. This story is really humorous and the expressions on the grumpy fairies faces are hilarious and reminiscent of those days in the classroom where…
Waking the Mountain
English 4-8 years Environmental Activism Social-Emotional Learning Magic Nature Sustainability Fantasy Marina Fonseca & Lisa Junius summary Waking the Mountain follows a magical land that used to be lush and green, but isn’t any longer. Ethereal illustrations show a journey across many broken lands, and some humanoid figures that want to restore the landscape. The…