THE BIG GREEN

In a nod to one of our planet’s largest reclamation projects, two African children help their parents and neighbors plant trees on the edge of a desert.

Wilson-Max saves a more detailed look at the ongoing Great Green Wall initiative, which involves 11 countries along the southern reaches of the Sahara, for his afterword. The main part of the book provides a local perspective on the massive amount of work that has been and will need to be done to stop the desert’s advance. At first, Little Maryam and Issa only know that something exciting is about to happen outside their unnamed village. When Uncle Cedric arrives with a truckful of seedlings, Issa asks, “What are those plants?” “Your future,” his uncle replies. Indeed, after much digging and watering, done to rhythmic songs and cheers, everyone understands that “they [are] making a difference to their world.” In a final scene, the children, a little bigger now, walk in tall green grass beneath spreading trees, admiring flowers and butterflies and aware that they have a place both to look after and to play in. “There was laughter. There was food. There was safety.” The art is as bright and simple as the ideas expressed, and for readers inspired to make a difference in their own worlds, the author closes with directions for planting a tree.

A bright promise, founded on hope and local support.