E IS FOR ENVIRONMENT
Stories to Help Children Care for Their World—at Home, at School, and at Play
by Ian James Corlett & illustrated by R.A. Holt
In a series of 25 short episodes taking place in their daily life, Elliott and Lucy make consciously eco-friendly decisions. Corlett imagines that these two young people have been so turned on by a pair of "green crusaders" who visited their school that they have a series of aha! moments. Each chapter opens with a humorous illustration and ends with a question to readers about what action the children took, further questions connecting the issue with readers' own lives, some fast facts and an inspirational quotation or two. Choices range from bringing bags to the supermarket and eating locally to carpooling, giving gifts of time instead of things, washing hands and most clothes with cold water and even the purchase of a new car. The children's middle-class lives are recognizably complex and full, and the author acknowledges that families have different preferences and priorities. His message that children can model for adults is clear, but his approach is fresh and his examples reasonably realistic. For elementary readers who care, this may be welcome reinforcement. (Inspirational short stories. 8-12)