THE CAN CARAVAN

Janie helps her neighbor Mrs. Tolen by reconstructing her caravan when the older woman needs a safer living space after breaking her hip.

Janie, a light-skinned girl with reddish hair who lives with her mother and grandfather, and Mrs. Tolen, gray-haired and light-skinned, are Travellers who live in caravans. In the past, they traveled from town to town, working with metals and recycling older materials in what Janie’s grandpa calls the “rag-and-bone trade.” After visiting a can-recycling factory with her diverse class, Janie decides to rebuild Mrs. Tolen’s caravan with the help of classmates and community members. The recycling plant donates recycled metal sheets, and the community collects cans to earn necessary funds. Volunteers work under Janie’s leadership. After Mrs. Tolen finishes rehab, she moves into her new recycled “Can Caravan.” Colorful, realistic illustrations lend an upbeat tone. Perhaps it’s unrealistic for Janie to direct the initiative, but the “komli chavvie” (kind child), as Mrs. Tolen calls her, has a strong interest in creating caravans, and kids will admire her take-charge attitude and goodhearted actions. O’Neill deftly folds traditional Traveller values and vocabulary into a contemporary picture book about recycling and community action. A helpful flowchart at the end shows how cans are recycled. Romani words are defined on the copyright page. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An affirming story about a helpful young Traveller.