In the developed world, if you want a drink of water you just turn on a tap or open a bottle. But for millions of families worldwide, finding clean water is a daily challenge, and kids are often the ones responsible for carrying water to their homes. Every Last Drop looks at why the world’s water resources are at risk and how communities around the world are finding innovative ways to quench their thirst and water their crops. Maybe you’re not ready to drink fog, as they do in Chile, or use water made from treated sewage, but you can get a low-flush toilet, plant a tree, protect a wetland or just take shorter showers. Every last drop counts!
Thirteen-year-old Quinn and her friends can't believe their luck when spring break is extended an extra two weeks—even if it's because of some virus. But when the impact of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic becomes apparent, everyone, not just the students, has to learn to adjust to their new reality. Quinn’s father is an ER doctor and has to self-isolate to protect his family from the virus. Isaac’s mother is the chief of police and now has to enforce new physical-distancing bylaws. Reese can’t visit her grandmother in her care home anymore. And their entire school has moved to online classes. Sacrifices have to be made to keep everyone safe, but there’s more to life than rules and scary news reports. In an effort to find some good in all this uncertainty, Quinn comes up with an idea that she hopes will bring the entire community together.
This illustrated nonfiction picture book by child psychologist Dr. Jillian Roberts introduces children to the topics of bodies, body safety and body image through a conversation-based story that begins with an observation at the community pool. Modesty, privacy and boundaries are discussed, along with how self-image is formed and how some people are more sensitive than others—sometimes at different stages in their lives. Relevant themes around body shaming, body positivity and self-esteem building are explored, with a final call to action empowering children to build their own confidence and speak up when something doesn't feel right.
We're all connected to the ocean, and the ocean to us. The ocean provides half the oxygen we breathe; it feeds us, creates our weather and provides us with water. But we haven't been as kind to the ocean in return. The problems are many: pollution, overfishing, rising seas and acid waters. What can be done? Don't despair; take action. Dive In! explores our intimate connection with the ocean and provides every reader with an achievable set of actions that can help improve ocean health for our sake and the sake of the millions of marine plants and animals that share the planet with us. Filled with colorful photos and positive stories, Dive In! is as informative as it is inspirational.
Most of us see trees every day, and too often we take them for granted. Trees provide us with everything from food, fuel and shelter to oxygen and filtered water. Deep Roots celebrates the central role trees play in our lives, no matter where we live. Each chapter in Deep Roots focuses on a basic element—water, air, fire and earth—and explores the many ways in which we need trees to keep our planet healthy and livable. From making rain to producing fruit to feeding fish, trees play an integral role in maintaining vibrant ecosystems all over the world. Facts about trees and hands-on activities throughout help readers discover ways to get to know our giant neighbors better.
Chick is a popular fourteen-year-old who is essentially on this earth to live up to his father’s impossible expectations, or at least that’s how he feels. This pressure is a grinding source of anxiety for him, which he copes with by making lists. He itemizes every aspect of his life, from his daily routine to the things that make him nervous. But as the pressure of school and his budding romance with his debating teammate Audrey builds, his compulsion starts to feel impossible to control or conceal.
Reece Hansen is missing two things: his father and his frog. His parents are newly separated, and his dad is now living in another city, fighting forest fires. Reece struggles to get used to daily life without him. When he loses his pet frog, Burgess, Reece puts posters up around the neighborhood. But frogs are difficult to find. It takes an unusual classmate, the boy who wears a bathrobe to school, to pull Reece's attention away from Burgess. Through his new friend and a camping trip with his mom, Reece learns that friends can come in human form and families are resilient even when things change.
Fourteen-year-old Skye Richardson had to leave her home, school and friends when she and her mom moved across the country to a small town on the East Coast. She’s not happy about it. Then she gets a part-time job at a local coffee shop and meets Digby Jones. Digby lives in a group home. He loves Ping-Pong and watching his favorite TV shows. He likes things done in a certain way. One day, Digby tells Skye he has the winning million-dollar lottery ticket everyone in town has been talking about. At first, all Skye can think about is how she’d love to have that money to buy her old life back. Soon, however, she begins to worry that people are going to take advantage of her new friend.
Did you know that cars can run on french-fry grease or that human poop can be used to provide power to classrooms? Brilliant! is about what happens when you harness the power of imagination and innovation: the world changes for the better! Kids in Mexico help light up their houses by playing soccer, and in the Philippines, pop-bottle skylights are improving the quality of life for thousands of families. Full of examples of unusual (and often peculiar) power sources, Brilliant! encourages kids to look around for new and sustainable ways to light up the world.
Wild horses are legendary, but today their very existence is under threat from a changing environment, politics and less protected spaces to roam free. These animals live all over the world, including the iconic mustangs in North America—a symbol of freedom and the American West. Today what we thought we knew about the history of wild horses and where they came from is changing. What makes a horse wild? Where do they live and how did they end up there? What is the relationship between wild horses and Indigenous Peoples? How are governments and citizens working for or against them? In this book, readers discover the history, biology and ecology of wild horses and the key role young people are playing in protecting wild horse populations to keep them running free for generations to come.
Years before Rosa Parks famously refused to give up a bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, Viola Desmond took a similar stand against racial segregation in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. On November 8, 1946, she was arrested for refusing to move from the "whites-only" section of a movie theater. Her heroic act inspired Black community leaders and made her a symbol of courage in the fight against inequality. This story of Viola's life is based on rare interviews with her sister Wanda Robson, who spent her life championing her sister's story and was successful in getting Viola a posthumous pardon that recognized she was innocent of any crime. From their childhood in Nova Scotia to Viola's career as a teacher in a segregated school and, later, her role as a pioneer in Black beauty culture, young readers are introduced to the girl and the woman who went on to become the face of the civil-rights movement in Canada.
Litter is not only an eyesore but a serious threat to animals and their habitats. We can all work together to keep the planet healthy and clean. Did you know that gum on the sidewalk is litter? Even a banana peel that is thrown in a ditch is litter. Trash poses a threat to animals everywhere, including pets, farm animals and wildlife. They can get injured or trapped in the litter and even eat garbage that makes them sick. But there's good news: litter is a problem everyone can help prevent. Around the world, kids and adults are finding ways to take out the trash. Find out how you can help clean up the planet for all species.
Fitting in at a new school is hard enough, but when you’re an awkward, big-nosed, nerdy Pakistani girl with a funny last name, it can seem impossible. Eleven-year-old Alina Butt has changed schools four times already since her family moved to England from Pakistan. Even after all that practice, she doesn’t seem to be getting any better at being the new kid. Mocked for her last name and her "weird" lunches, Alina has had enough! Taking a leap of faith to try and stand out for the "right" reasons, Alina auditions for the school play. Her hopes of landing the lead role in Cinderella are dashed when her new friend gets the part of Cinderella instead...and her bully is cast as Prince Charming!
Mary was four years old when she was first taken away to the Lejac Indian Residential School. It was far away from her home and family. Always hungry and cold, there was little comfort for young Mary. Speaking Dakelh was forbidden and the nuns and priest were always watching, ready to punish. Mary and the other girls had a genius idea: drawing on the knowledge from their mothers, aunts and grandmothers who were all master sewers, the girls would sew hidden pockets in their clothes to hide food. They secretly gathered materials and sewed at nighttime, then used their pockets to hide apples, carrots and pieces of bread to share with the younger girls. Based on the author's mother's experience at residential school, The Secret Pocket is a story of survival and resilience in the face of genocide and cruelty. But it's also a celebration of quiet resistance to the injustice of residential schools and how the sewing skills passed down through generations of Indigenous women gave these girls a future, stitch by stitch.
Science is for everyone, right? Unfortunately, that's not always true. Discovery, research and innovation are often top secret, and big businesses charge high prices for that information. The field of open science is trying to change that. It's all about sharing knowledge. Teams of scientists around the world are working together to improve and speed up scientific research and share their results so that everyone benefits. Open Science: Knowledge for Everyone examines the history of scientific research and how ideas and information are shared and why. It also looks at innovations made using open science, such as treatments for diseases and vaccines to protect against viruses like COVID-19, discoveries that were only possible thanks to the sharing of information. Discover how regular people, including kids, can be citizen scientists and what we all can do to share science and make the world a better place.
All over the world, people are joining the low-waste movement and getting tough on their trash. Maybe you’ve heard the reports of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch swirling in the ocean. Maybe you’ve seen the photos of whales and sea birds with trash in their bellies. Or maybe you’ve heard that only 9 percent of our plastic waste actually gets recycled. We can all do our part for the planet by creating less garbage. In Less Is More young readers will discover how to avoid waste in the first place, reduce how much they use and reuse what they can, before they recycle and rot (compost) the rest. With small, simple actions we can become part of the circular economy. Find out how you can join the low-waste movement—and get your friends and family on board too!
If you could design a city that would be both a great place to live and good for the planet, what would it look like? Today, about four billion people—more than half the world’s population—live in cities. This number could rise to seven billion by 2050. Cities face big challenges, including threats from climate change, food insecurity, a lack of clean water and rapid population growth, but they are also places where innovation and sustainability can thrive. Peek into the past to see how cities have changed through time and explore what could make cities more sustainable and welcoming for today and tomorrow.
The news can inform and inspire, but it can also misinform and mislead. Becoming a savvy news consumer is more important than ever as people are spending an increasing amount of time on the internet and social media, where they're exposed to fake news and clickbait. And as major news events such as the COVID-19 pandemic have shown us, the global spread of misinformation and disinformation puts lives at risk and accurate and reliable information can save lives.
An anthology featuring stories and recipes from racialized authors about food, culture and resistance What if talking about racism was as easy as baking a cake, frying plantains or cooking rice? The Antiracist Kitchen: 21 Stories (and Recipes) is a celebration of food, family, activism and resistance in the face of racism. In this anthology featuring stories and recipes from 21 diverse and award-winning North American children's authors, the authors share the role of food in their lives and how it has helped fight discrimination, reclaim culture and celebrate people with different backgrounds. They bring personal and sometimes difficult experiences growing up as racialized people. Chopped, seared, marinated and stewed, The Antiracist Kitchen highlights the power of sitting down to share a meal and how that simple act can help bring us all together. Featuring recipes and stories from S.K. Ali, Bryan Patrick Avery, Ruth Behar, Marty Chan, Ann Yu-Kyung Choi, Hasani Claxton, Natasha Deen, Reyna Grande, Dierdre Havrelock, Jennifer de Leon, Andrea J. Loney, Janice Lynn Mather, Linda Sue Park, Danny Ramadan, Sarah Raughley, Waubgeshig Rice, Rahma Rodaah, Andrea Rogers, Simran Jeet Singh, Ayelet Tsabari and Susan Yoon.
Explore the past, present and future of voting around the world, and why it's one of the most important things we can do as citizens. Discover how voting affects everyone's life, what election day looks like, why some people don’t cast a ballot and more. Did you know a ping-pong ball once decided an election or that the government in Ancient Greece voted by shouting? With profiles of young people who are making the vote count, this book will empower young people of all backgrounds to make their voices heard.
Light pollution threatens the survival of every living species on our planet, including people. It started when Thomas Edison invented the first light bulb more than 150 years ago. Then, as electric light became more common, light pollution began to take over cities and towns. Today, in urban centers all over the world, the stars in the sky aren't visible. Millions of people have never seen the Milky Way. In Saving the Night, we discover how plants and animals have adapted over millions of years to survive and thrive in the dark, and how artificial light can upset the balance of entire ecosystems. But there are ways we can take back the night for animals, plants and us. It starts with the flick of a switch.
What can archaeology and Indigenous Traditional Knowledge tell us about how our marine environments have changed over time and the effects of climate change? From harvesting herring eggs to hunting humpback whales, humans have had a relationship with the world's oceans for more than 100,000 years. Unearth what our ancestors left behind at archaeological sites around the world and examine how tools, campsites, fishing technologies and even garbage can show us how our ancestors lived and how they used the ocean. These discoveries can unearth clues to help keep our oceans healthier today and in the future.
When Cassie comes to Vancouver from Australia for an intensive summer program at a prestigious ballet school, she finds it hard to fit in. A clique of girls who have been at the school a long time don't want the newcomers to get any attention. At first Cassie tries to go along to get along, but when she realizes that some of the visiting summer students are being bullied and threatened, and that she herself is being sabotaged, she finally speaks out - and finds out how far some girls will go to succeed.
Dorf a toujours été fidèle à sa devise : « Si ça en vaut la peine, fais-le. Si ça n'en vaut pas la peine, fais-le quand même. » Mais il a déménagé à la ville et le terrain est différent. Il ne peut plus faire rouler sa planche oû bon lui semble et il a de la difficulté à s'intégrer à sa nouvelle école. Ses tricks audacieux lui assurent le respect des voyous du coin, mais il devra faire appel à une autre forme de courage s'il veut vraiment changer sa vie. Dorf is all about skateboarding, and so far that's worked out fine. But now that he's in a new city, the terrain has changed. He's no longer free to skateboard where he wishes, school is more difficult, and his passion for skateboarding garners him the nickname and reputation of a freak. With daring stunts he gains the grudging respect of local troublemakers, but he needs to tap into another kind of courage to effect real change.
Better Together explores how people gather in groups of all kinds to fulfill the basic human need for companionship. From the smallest units of parents, siblings and friends to global organizations that try to build on a foundation of common human experience to meet their goals, people working together are a powerful force for change. Too often, we look at someone and see all the ways we are different. People all around the world come together to build things, teach and entertain each other, and provide everything from better health care to good food to security and education. Better Together examines the many ways we are the same, no matter where we live.
