Climate Change for Babies

Written By: Chris Ferrie & Katherina Petrou

Illustrated by: Chris Ferrie

For Ages: infants and up

Language: English

Topics Covered: Environmental Activism, Pint-Sized Professor, Climate Change, Climate Justice, STEM.

Summary:

Climate Change for Babies begins the conversation to teach about the earth, its atmosphere, and what is currently happening to it. I like the metaphor of the atmosphere being like a blanket around the earth, I think that is a clear comparison to kids that helps them think both abstractly about the earth and understand how that relates to what it feels like when they’re under a blanket for too long.

The book is an oversized board book, but perfect for longterm use with a variety of ages because of the detail it goes into and the potential for deep discussions. It talks about the things that are making the earth feel unwell, but sandwiches the harsher realities (like rising sea levels and extreme weather events) with introductory information (in the beginning) and what individual citizens can do to help the planet to end the book on a positive note. I think it’s easy for some books to outright scare and overwhelm younger readers, but this one strikes a nice balance. I’m so impressed with the younger generation and their commitment to climate justice. These books can help teach even the littlest environmental activists, and I love that the book was created by 2 scientists. There is even a line on the back saying the carbon footprint of the book itself, and that planting a single tree will offset the production impact on the atmosphere.

This book was kindly sent by Sourcebooks Kids, but all opinions are my own.

Chris Ferrie

Chris Ferrie, father of four and happy husband. His day job is academic research where he follows his curiosity through the word of quantum physics. Chris’ passion for communicating science has led from the most esoteric topics of mathematical physics to more recently writing children’s books.

During the day you will find Chris as an Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney and Centre for Quantum Software and Information. His research interests include quantum estimation and control, and, in particular, the use of machine learning to solve statistical problems in quantum information science. Chris obtained his PhD in Applied Mathematics from Institute for Quantum Computing and University of Waterloo (Canada) in 2012.

Katherina Petrou

Katherina Petrou is a marine biologist and Senior Lecturer for Marine Science at the University of Technology Sydney. She has a BA in international studies, BSc (Hons) in biology and a PhD in marine phytoplankton physiology. She travels the world’s oceans, from the tropics to the Antarctic, investigating microscopic marine life and its response to climate change.

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