Traffic. It's not only frustrating, it's hurting the planet. Emissions from cars, buses, trucks and planes are one of the leading causes of pollution in North America. Today there are more cars clogging the roads than ever before. In Rush Hour, learn how traffic got so bad and some of the innovative ways it's being managed around the world. Discover what technological advances like talking cars and electric buses will mean for the future of traffic. Even though they can't drive yet, kids need to take control of the wheel. From walking to school, to carpooling with friends or petitioning the government, the next generation of drivers has to think differently about traffic and understand what they can do now to help protect the environment. And it starts with changing our habits, one less car ride at a time.
The sounds of nature are being drowned out by the clamor of human activity, and that's not good for people, animals or the environment. Every living thing emits sound—birds sing, whales whistle, streams burble and trees pop and fizzle. In Listen Up, young readers are introduced to all the sounds of the natural world, from the first Big Bang to the complex soundscapes of the rainforests. Readers will also discover how the invasion of human sounds, from airplanes, traffic and machines, is threatening the survival of species that have adapted to their habitats over thousands of years. Conserving the sounds of nature is an important part of addressing the biggest challenges facing humanity today—protecting the planet's biodiversity and the future of our natural world.
Over the past 500 years, thousands of species of plants and animals have become extinct. The Late, Great Endlings pays homage to some of the more well-known endlings of the past century with rhyming stanzas that accompany watercolor illustrations and factual descriptions of each animal, along with the circumstances that led to their species' extinction. Together, these portraits of animals, like the passenger pigeon, the Pinta Island tortoise and the Tasmanian tiger, are a poignant symbol of a world irreversibly altered by human development, habitat loss and climate change. Readers are invited to reflect on the interconnectedness of all life forms on our planet with an additional look at animals that are at risk of becoming extinct in our lifetime. Concluding on a hopeful note, the final page offers suggestions for what kids can do to change the course of this mass species extinction crisis.
Jacky notices that the climate is changing and the summers are becoming hotter and drier... Little Jacky is a Jack pine cone who loves living in the woods with all of her animal friends. When a fire breaks out in her forest, all her friends run to safety and the firefighters battle the flames. The fire threatens to get too close to a neighboring village and Jacky watches as the people who live there, and the fire crew, take measures to make sure everyone is safe. While the village is protected from the fire, Little Jacky is scorched by the flames and finds out that the heat is important for her to continue her life cycle. Beautifully detailed illustrations integrate science with storytelling, and children will enjoy finding new bits of information with every read.
Everyone depends on clean air to breathe, safe water to drink and healthy soil for growing food. But what if your drinking water is dangerous, your air is polluted and your soil is toxic? What can you do about that? Do you have the right to demand change? Fresh Air, Clean Water: Defending Our Right to a Healthy Environment explores the connections between our environment and our health, and why the right to live in a healthy environment should be protected as a human right. The book features profiles of kids around the world who are taking action and important environmental rights court cases. Hear the powerful stories of those fighting for change.
Lightning sparks a forest fire deep in the mountains near the town of Waterton. Days later, the sky is blue and the air is clear, so it doesn’t seem like an emergency, until crews of firefighters begin to arrive and townspeople start to prepare. Cricket and her friends watch deer and birds flee the forest and run right through town. But what about the slower animals? What about the porcupines and squirrels, the salamanders and snakes? Cricket searches for a way to help until the fire surprises everyone by quickly switching directions and racing towards the town. She hopes that the preparations and the firefighters' experience will be enough to save her home. But what about all the animals she loves? This is the fifth title in the Cricket McKay series, following Cougar Frenzy, Bats in Trouble, Ospreys in Danger and Salamander Rescue.
Fashion can be fun, but it can also hurt people, animals and the planet. Fashion Forward: Striving for Sustainable Style goes behind the glitz and glamour to explore the social and environmental issues within the fashion industry. It looks at the history of fashion, from why humans started wearing clothes to the birth of consumerism to the explosion of fast fashion and fashion’s footprint. The book introduces readers to the innovative people, companies and organizations that are taking positive action on fashion. Kids will discover how to make ethical choices and become fashion heroes for the future. There are easy ways we can help transform the fashion industry and still look stylish at the same time!
Less than 100 years ago, the northern elephant seal was thought to be extinct. Today more than 250,000 elephant seals swim in the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to Mexico. In Return from Extinction: The Triumph of the Elephant Seal Linda L. Richards tells the story of their dramatic recovery. Elephant seals were hunted to near extinction for their precious oil before the Mexican government stepped in to protect them. Many people thought it was too late. Even though the life of the elephant seal is difficult and only 20 percent of pups born will make it to adulthood, the species adapted and came back from the brink. They are a true conservation success story.
Wild birds are everywhere, from the dry deserts to the icy poles. We see them soaring overhead, paddling across water, flitting through trees, pecking at the ground or our backyard bird feeders and singing from fence posts. Birds contribute to the health of the planet and provide pleasure for millions of people, but wild birds are in trouble. Today, almost 200 bird species are critically endangered. They are threatened by habitat loss, invasive species, climate change, pesticides, plastics in the environment, human-made structures and other animals. Bird’s Eye View looks at why wild birds are important, why they need help and what young people all over the world are doing and can do to give wild birds a boost.
After a hang glider crashes into the pool of the house where Dinah and Madge are house-sitting, the hapless pilot creates more than a splash of suspicion in Dinah's mind. Why does this itchy intruder make off with Dinah's inflatable turtle? Why is someone trying to drive their cat-mad neighbor away? And what is the connection with the balding stranger seen lurking behind the hedge? And when Madge's boyfriend starts a campaign to save the endangered spotted owl, it seems that a crooked politician may be out to destroy the habitat of the near-extinct animal. While Madge paints, Dinah brushes aside suggestions that she be a quiet, well-behaved guest in this posh North Vancouver neighborhood. There's just too much for Dinah and her friends—tree-fanatic Pantelli and irritatingly conscientious Talbot—to investigate in this hilariously suspenseful adventure. Along with learning about endangered animals and fragile ecosystems, Dinah runs across clueless reporters and greedy developers, all the while continuing to belt out her favorite songs and satisfy her healthy appetite.
One Earth profiles Black, Indigenous and People of Color who live and work as environmental defenders. Through their individual stories, the book shows that the intersection of environment and ethnicity is an asset to achieving environmental goals. The twenty short biographies introduce readers to diverse activists from all around the world, who are of many ages and ethnicities. From saving ancient trees on the West Coast of Canada, to protecting the Irrawaddy dolphins of India, to uncovering racial inequalities in the food system in the United States, these environmental heroes are celebrated by author and biologist Anuradha Rao, who outlines how they went from being kids who cared about the environment to community leaders in their field. One Earth is full of environmental role models waiting to be found.
Both the shepherd and the wolf live on the mountain. They love their home and want to feel safe there. This book tells the same story, in identical words, from both the wolf’s perspective and that of the shepherd. Read the wolf’s story then flip it over and read the shepherd’s story and see the landscape that each of them sees. A good reminder of how humans should behave in the wild and on this earth that we share.
Fourteen-year-old Dylan is sent to live with his estranged grandfather, Angus. Basically strangers, the two avoid each other as best they can. One day Dylan discovers a young orca stranded high up on the rocky beach. Dylan runs to tell his grandfather. There’s nothing that can be done, says Angus. The sun is coming up, and soon the orca will die of exposure. But Dylan knows he has to try to save the whale. He collects towels to cover the delicate skin of the orca and begins transporting buckets of water from the ocean below to keep it hydrated. It’s grueling work, and it will be hours before the tide comes back in and the water is high enough for the orca to swim free. Angus is moved by his grandson’s determination and helps as best he can. They both desperately hope that soon the orca will be able to join its family, who have been calling out to it just offshore.
This illustrated nonfiction picture book by child psychologist Dr. Jillian Roberts introduces children to the important topic of the environment. Crafted around a conversation between a grade-school-aged child and an adult, this inquiry-focused book using age-appropriate language and tone will help children shape their understanding of the natural world and how they participate in protecting it. Dr. Roberts starts the discussion with the types of pollution and trash that children might notice on a nature walk or a trip to the beach, how they are caused and how to work to improve things in their own lives and communities. The World Around Us series introduces children to complex cultural, social and environmental issues they may encounter outside their homes, in an accessible way. Sidebars offer further reading for older children or care providers who have bigger questions. For younger children just starting to make these observations, the simple question-and-answer format of the main text will provide a foundation of knowledge on the subject matter. This is the newest title in The World Around Us series, following books that address poverty, tragedy, prejudice, online awareness and body safety and body image.
Celebrated poet Susan Musgrave weaves the purity, strength and sweetness of love with simple joys from nature experienced through the seasons. Marilyn Faucher's vibrant illustrations are a lovely complement to Musgrave's prose, and together these elements introduce babies and toddlers to the delight of cold summer plums, a shower of cherry blossom petals and the endlessness of love. A perfect read-aloud, this poetic board book will foster warmth and closeness with the littlest ones in your life
When Cricket McKay and her best friend, Shilo, discover that a cougar has been seen in the town of Waterton, they are thrilled that school closes for a few days as a precaution. The townspeople are worried though. They want the cougar caught and relocated, which could be disastrous for the cougar. Cricket's dad, the national park's warden, is receiving reports of the cougar causing all kinds of trouble around town, but it's the type of trouble it doesn't make sense for a cougar to get into. Then Cricket and Shilo find evidence that another animal may be to blame. With the help of a visiting researcher who is in Waterton studying cougar behavior, Cricket and Shilo must convince the townspeople, and Cricket's dad, that they're after the the wrong animal before it’s too late. This is the fourth title featuring Cricket and her friends, following Bats in Trouble, Ospreys in Danger and Salamander Rescue.
Every spring the Great Bear Rainforest becomes a nursery to some of the most adorable baby animals out there. Award-winning nature photographer Ian McAllister has photographed the cutest of the cute to teach the little ones in your life about some of the little ones found in this temperate rainforest on British Columbia's Pacific coast. Orca calves, wolf cubs, seal pups and herring eggs (arguably not traditionally cute but still interesting!) feature in this vibrant exploration of one of the most beautiful great outdoors on offer in this big wild world.
Going wild. We don't see it as a good thing. And why would we? For most of our time on earth, humanity has been running from lions and other wilderness dangers. We've worked hard to make our local landscapes as safe and convenient as possible. Sometimes that's meant paving over areas that might burst into weeds. Other times, we've dammed rivers for electricity or irrigation. But now pollution, climate change and disruptions to the water cycle are affecting the world in ways we never anticipated. What if the new key to making our lives safer (and even healthier) is to allow the wilderness back into our cities?
You don't have to live in the Great Bear Rainforest to benefit from its existence, but after you read Nowhere Else on Earth you might want to visit this magnificent part of the planet. Environmental activist Caitlyn Vernon guides young readers through a forest of information, sharing her personal stories, her knowledge and her concern for this beautiful place. Full of breathtaking photographs and suggestions for ways to preserve this unique ecosystem, Nowhere Else on Earth is a timely and inspiring reminder that we need to stand up for our wild places before they are gone.
All the food you eat, whether it's an apple or a steak or a chocolate-coated cricket, has a story. Let's Eat uncovers the secret lives of our groceries, exploring alternative and sometimes bizarre farm technology and touring gardens up high on corporate rooftops and down low in military-style bunkers beneath city streets. Packed with interesting and sometimes startling facts on agriculture around the world, Let's Eat reveals everything from the size of the biggest farm in the world to how many pesticides are in a single grape to which insect people prefer to eat.
The Great Bear Rainforest is a majestic place full of tall trees, huge bears and endless schools of salmon. Award-winning photographer and author Ian McAllister's luminous photographs illustrate the story of a lone wolf who swims to one of the small islands that dot the rainforest's coast. The island provides him with everything he needs deer, salmon, fresh water everything, that is, but a mate. When a female wolf arrives on the island's rocky shores, she and he start a family and introduce their pups to the island's bounty.
What happens when one small boy picks up one small piece of litter? He doesn't know it, but his tiny act has big consequences. From the minuscule to the universal, What Matters sensitively explores nature's connections and traces the ripple effects of one child's good deed to show how we can all make a big difference.
An old man lives alone on a bluff overlooking the sea, tends his garden and waits. Only when the whales return each year to the bay in front of his cottage is his loneliness eased. Until, one day, an unexpected visitor arrives. Waiting for the Whales illuminates the unique friendship between grandparent and child and celebrates the restorative power of the natural world.
With a long list of activities and events to attend, cousin Thomas paints a picture of city life that makes Jessie’s world seem a little dull in comparison. When her mother suggests they invite Thomas to visit their island, Jessie wonders glumly what she could possibly write in her letter that would sound as exciting as zoos, planetariums or video arcades. But as Jessie looks out over her island home, she sees a world of endless variety, from killer whales in the strait and bald eagles soaring overhead to anemones in tide pools and tiny hermit crabs on the shore. She thinks of countless days spent exploring, fishing, swimming and canoeing.
Extensively illustrated with Ian McAllister's magnificent photographs, The Salmon Bears explores the delicate balance that exists between the grizzly, black and spirit bears and their natural environment, the last great wilderness along the central coast of British Columbia. Key to this relationship are the salmon that are born in the rivers each spring, who then go out to sea as juveniles and return as adults to spawn and die, completing a cycle of life that ensures the survival of not only their own species but also virtually every other plant and animal in the rainforest. In clear language suitable for young readers, the authors describe the day-to-day activities that define the lives of these bears through the four seasons. But this is also very much the story of the Great Bear Rainforesta vast tract of land that stretches from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaska border and contains some of the largest stands of old-growth forest left on the West Coast. The Salmon Bears focuses on the interconnectedness of all life in the rainforest and makes a strong case for the importance of protecting this vital ecological resource.
