DEAR EARTH…FROM YOUR FRIENDS IN ROOM 5

A year’s worth of letters between elementary students and Earth highlight practical ways to care for our planet.

The students of Room 5 hope to “do our part” to care for their world. In January, they send a letter to Earth asking for suggestions; the Earth happily replies. This series of monthly exchanges includes familiar recommendations, beginning with turning off the lights and ending with regifting Christmas presents with recycled wrappings, and why these actions matter. What begins as an all-class activity becomes an “Earth Heroes” club by the following September, led by Bernard, the most enthusiastic correspondent. Over the year they’ve adopted reusable water bottles, planted a garden, begun to bike to school, used both sides of pieces of paper, and convinced the school cafeteria to contribute compost to their garden, among other actions. In the process, Bernard, a boy with light-brown skin, even becomes more skillful at rhyming. In cheerful, bustling illustrations, Uribe depicts a wonderfully diverse group of schoolchildren indoors and out. They vary in hair, eye, and skin color and hairstyle; some wear glasses or use mobility aids. The pages with Earth’s letters feature smiling globes, attractive scenery, and appealing animals, including a sea turtle, a winsome black-footed ferret, and even a nesting red knot. The final spread includes a simple explanation of climate change’s causes and effects and a summary of things Earth Heroes can do. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 94.1% of actual size.)

A well-thought-out presentation of an important environmental message.