Karen GoatKeeper's Blog - Posts Tagged "squirrel-and-john-muir"
"Squirrel and John Muir", "Wangari's Trees of Peace" and "Moon Plane"
Imagination and dreams are so important both for young people and for changing the world for everyone.
Moon Plane
5 stars
Author/Illustrator: Peter McCarty
A small boy sees a plane fly overhead and his imagination takes him up into the plane and on a special flight.
The illustrations are done in soft pencil making them look like a dream or daydream. This is a picture book where the images tell the story with little input from the text.
Wangari's Trees of Peace
5 stars
Author/Illustrator: Jeanette Winter
Wangari is from Kenya. She grew up in forest with rich farmland. When she returned from college, the trees were gone, the farmland worthless.
Nine tree seedlings planted in Wangari's yard were her way to bring back the forests of her youth. Soon others joined her even as the government laughed and opposed the effort.
The officials were wrong. An army of women planting seedlings of native trees brought back the forests. These brought back the farmland not only in Kenya, but other African countries as well.
The illustrations are simple and colorful. They bring the story to life.
Squirrel and John Muir
4 stars
Author/Illustrator: Emily Arnold McCully
John Muir arrived in Yosemite Valley in 1868 seeking work. He had many skills and was a valued hired hand.
He used his time to explore the valley and find proof of his theory the valley was carved by glaciers.
His love of Yosemite became reason for its becoming a National Park. It was the beginning of the Sierra Club and helped promote the idea of conservation.
The book teams him with a young girl, the daughter of his employer. This is probably fictional, but makes the tale more accessible to younger readers.
The illustrations appear to be in watercolor giving them a soft, less defined look.
Moon Plane
5 stars
Author/Illustrator: Peter McCarty
A small boy sees a plane fly overhead and his imagination takes him up into the plane and on a special flight.
The illustrations are done in soft pencil making them look like a dream or daydream. This is a picture book where the images tell the story with little input from the text.
Wangari's Trees of Peace
5 stars
Author/Illustrator: Jeanette Winter
Wangari is from Kenya. She grew up in forest with rich farmland. When she returned from college, the trees were gone, the farmland worthless.
Nine tree seedlings planted in Wangari's yard were her way to bring back the forests of her youth. Soon others joined her even as the government laughed and opposed the effort.
The officials were wrong. An army of women planting seedlings of native trees brought back the forests. These brought back the farmland not only in Kenya, but other African countries as well.
The illustrations are simple and colorful. They bring the story to life.
Squirrel and John Muir
4 stars
Author/Illustrator: Emily Arnold McCully
John Muir arrived in Yosemite Valley in 1868 seeking work. He had many skills and was a valued hired hand.
He used his time to explore the valley and find proof of his theory the valley was carved by glaciers.
His love of Yosemite became reason for its becoming a National Park. It was the beginning of the Sierra Club and helped promote the idea of conservation.
The book teams him with a young girl, the daughter of his employer. This is probably fictional, but makes the tale more accessible to younger readers.
The illustrations appear to be in watercolor giving them a soft, less defined look.
