Plastic Soup

Klimaatjes #4

by Judith Koppens

The animal friends are spending the day at the beach. Frog jumps in the water and comes up with a torn plastic bag on his head. Fox thinks Frog looks like a sea monster! But the plastic bag isn’t the only thing that floats in the water. Why is there so much plastic in the sea?

An simple story to introduce children to water pollution and little changes that can make a big difference. For children ages 5 and up.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Environment

32 pages, Hardcover

Published July 28, 2020

Reviews

[La Coccinelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this book right now is kind of depressing. It's a story about a group of friends who go to the beach and find a lot of plastic floating in the water. The moral of the story is to avoid using plastic, reuse it if you can't, and choose less wasteful options.

At the moment, though, all of that has gone out the window. Everyone's so afraid of a virus that plastic use has soared, wiping out all the progress we might have made in that area. Reusable bags are banned at the grocery store; you have to get a new one every time. For this reason, I wouldn't recommend this book right now. It's liable to be confusing to kids, who are going to get one message from the book and the opposite message from the world.

Aside from that, it's not a bad story. The illustrations are okay. The translation is a little clunky, though, and the layout of the words on the page makes it difficult to tell who's speaking at times. (There's also a character nodding their speech, so I took points off for that.)

Overall, this is a decent book... but not one that's suitable for the current moment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Clavis Publishing for providing a digital ARC.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of friends are super excited about a beach day, but they get very disappointed when plastic grocery bags start getting tangled in their bodies when they go for a swim. When they look around they see that there is not only plastic bags, but bottles, plastic containers, and more. Hedgehog has read about it. All the plastic we throw away ends in the oceans. They have an idea. They don't want to throw away all the plastic bags they have brought to the beach. They decide to make kites with them.

I liked this story. It is true that it is simple compared with the complex plastic problem we have, but this is a picture book for little kids, and I think that the first step of feeling we can do something is essential. At the end there is also a plan/suggestion to paint your own cotton bag to use it for groceries, and never again use the plastic ones again. A nice and purposeful summer activity.
The illustrations are also cute, colorful. I kind of feel like going to the ocean. :)

I received this book from Clavis Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://reviewsinchalk.blogspot.com/

[Ria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een vriendengroep gaat op een zomerse dag naar het strand. De een wil zwemmen, de ander de krant lezen en de volgende wil gaan vliegeren. Het is een gemêleerd dierengezelschap, precies zoals de mensenmaatschappij is.

Vos en Kikker van de vrolijke omslag gaan zwemmen in zee en ontdekken allerlei vreemde voorwerpen in het water. Eerst moet Vos nog om Kikker lachen als hij met een gescheurde plastic zak op zijn kop boven water komt, maar al snel vragen ze zich af waarom er zoveel troep in het water ligt.
Ze nemen alles mee naar Egel, Uil, Muis, Duif en Mol en bespreken hoe het komt dat er een plasticsoep ontstaat. Egel heeft hierover in de krant gelezen en alle dieren luisteren aandachtig naar hem en ook naar Uil die bedenkt dat er zo min mogelijk plastic gebruikt moet worden. Duif voelt zich aangesproken, want hij gebruikt voor van alles en nog wat juist de tasjes van plastic.
In zwemmen hebben ze nu geen zin meer, wel in vliegeren. Tot schrik van Muis is haar vlieger stuk. Een oplossing wordt bedacht en daarmee wordt ook aangedragen dat je spullen kunt hergebruiken.

Een serieus onderwerp kan heel goed bespreekbaar worden gemaakt voor jonge kinderen. Plasticsoep, het kleurrijke vierkante prentenboek laat dit goed zien. Er is voldoende tekst, ieder dier komt aan het woord en de tekst is meestal in lichtgekleurde gedeelten neergezet. Een aantal woorden zijn cursief gedrukt. Dit zijn woorden die voor het tekstbegrip nadere uitleg nodig zullen hebben en daardoor de woordenschat zullen vergroten. De aansprekende paginagrote illustraties met menselijke lichaamshoudingen en gezichtsuitdrukkingen hebben een fijne grootte om het boek voor een groep voor te lezen en bij het samen lezen valt er veel te ontdekken in de details.
De problematiek wordt goed uitgelegd voor de leeftijd vanaf vier of vijf jaar en laat zien dat je op eenvoudige wijze ook op jonge leeftijd een steentje kan bijdragen aan dit maatschappelijke onderwerp. Een knutseltip achterin maakt het boek compleet. Een aanrader.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an electronic ARC from Clavis Publishing through NetGalley.
The message is important but the small print and flat tone may not interest the target audience. Colorful illustrations will help young readers see the story but the message level is a little high. The abrupt change by Mouse to simply fly kites feels disjointed though the message does continue when they reuse their plastic bags.
Informative text to decorate a reusable cloth bag concludes the book.

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Plastic soup is a cute story about a group of animal friends who go for a day at the beach and find plastic litter in the sea. They realise they can reuse the plastic bags to make kites and have fun with them and read in a magazine about how a great deal of plastic ends up in our oceans.
This book is a good starting platform to build on with children about plastic, using less plastic, recycling, being eco friendly etc but I did feel the book could have included a lot more.

[Femke · Rating 2 out of 5]

The message in this book is very important, but I wasn’t that fond of the story itself or the artwork. The tip to craft your own shopping bag is fun though. I bet children will love to do that!

Special thanks to NetGalley for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

[Neha Thakkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable illustrations bring this book about recycling and reusing to life! A group of animal friends go to the beach but find some unwanted rubbish! They learn more about plastic waste and water pollution and find ways to reuse their own items to lower the waste amount!

[Soumya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating - 3.5

[maiaisreading · Rating 3 out of 5]

I downloaded it on my kindle and oh my it was hard to read thus the three stars. Multiple pages of the book were all in one page. The colors are vibrant though and the drawings are great. This is a good story for kids and the importance of keeping our environment, sea life in particular, safe.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plastic Soup is an adorable story of a group of friends who learn an important lesson of conservation while spending a day at the beach. The cute illustrations and simple story line are a great way to introduce young children to this important lesson. Plastic Soup does a great job at setting the stage for parent's to have future discussions with their children on how we can help our environment by reducing, reusing, and recycling. After reading it to my 3.5 year old,, he is now very excited to follow the directions in the back to make the reusable bag to take stuff to Grandma's house and finding ways to give more stuff the the recycling man than the garbage man. We highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to begin teaching their children how to love the environment.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Clavis Publishing for the digital review copy!

No one wants to eat plastic soup, gross, and no one wants to swim in it, either. When a group of friends head to the beach for a fun day in the sun, Fox and Frog dip into the ocean only to find plastic bags and bottles all around them. When they share their finds with their friends, they learn that most of the plastic we throw away ends up in the ocean, which isn’t good for the animals who live there. Instead of throwing away their plastic bags, they reuse them and make them into kites, and for carrying things, they have reusable, cotton bags instead.

This cute little book packs a big message about our environment and some small but important steps we can take to protect it, mainly stopping our use of single-use plastics as much as possible. Reuse where you can, and prevent use in the first place if possible, especially in the form of bags, by decorating and using reusable cotton bags. There’s even a quick, easy craft in the back of the book that your kids can follow to decorate their own reusable shopping bag.

I appreciated the message in this book, and the setting is perfect for summer time. This one’s out in July, so keep an eye out for it at your local book store or library to add to your kids’ beach reading collection this summer.

[oohlalabooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect book to read especially now when it’s summer and beach weather. This is a wonderful story to remind adults of the hazards of ocean liter and a learning exercise for kids. The pages are colorful and the story is easy to understand. My toddlers and I enjoy reading this. Thank you to NetGalley, Clovis, and Judith Koppens for an ebook ARC. This is my honest review.

[Josephine Sorrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

The animal friends are having a fun day at the beach. Frog and fox are diving under the waves when frog comes up with something on his head. He looks like a sea monster, but it’s really a ripped plastic bag. Frog wants to know why a plastic bag is floating in the ocean. This is my favorite line in the book because plastic should not be in our oceans!
The animals end up getting plastic bags from the trash to use to fly as kites. This is supposed to be an example of reusing. The book ends with a project of decorating a canvas bag.
Problem...
It’s not easy to use aplastic bag for a kite and scavenging from a trash bin is not cool.


It is a simple story to introduce children to water pollution and little changes that can make a big difference, but the book fell short for me.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just read this book to my 2 year old son. While he wasnt interest in the story itself, he did really love the fun colors and the animals. As a parent though, I loved the message and plan on sharing the book with my 4 year old nephew who can better understand. I loved that instead of just explaining how the oceans are getting polluted, the author gave a way to recycle what is already out there. So many books focus on prevention and not enough about how to fix the existing problem. Loved this! 5/5

[Mary Decrescenzio · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a sweet book to help introduce kids to recycling and the negative effects of littering. The colors were bright and happy and there was an activity at the end of the book. The topic was a heavy topic (pollution, littering, what can happen to animals who ingest litter, reusing/recycling) but was presented in a very kid-friendly way and allowed for some great discussions in our house!

I do think there were one too many characters/animals BUT I also think that's a way to teach diversity to kids. :)

[Little Red R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I would lve this book from the very title. I'll definitely buy physical copy for myself and to give. This little book is so important to raise awareness from a very yooung age because there is no age to take care of the planet. It's everyone's responsability.
Plastic soup shows perfectly to kid how the use of the plastic is not good for the earth and especially for the animal in a very interesting way! I would 100% recommand it!

[Etienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I respect and love the ecological message of this book. But as a literacy work, as a book for children, this isn't a really fun book, the story isn't really good and I think that with a good story the message would have stick with the reader way longer after reading it.

[Yannie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for another ARC book.

I like the story and the illustrations. It's not lengthy which kids love. I did not expect the plot when I saw the cover. It teaches readers about helping the environment which is a good thing for them to know at a young age.

[Nita (ecobookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley and the publishers.*

This is a super sweet and informative children's book, using a group of animal friends and their day at the beach to teach about the problem of marine pollution. The illustrations are adorable and age-appropriate - I used to work with Public Education in an environmental agency, and this would have been perfect for storytelling sessions or a presentation for young children. It would also be a great starting point to discuss the three R's (reduce, reuse and recycle) through the kite project and the craft discussed at the end.

The book does a great job of showing the real-world and personal impacts of plastic pollution in our beaches, and offers a simple explanation of how our actions lead to it. I do have one fact-check though: it's inaccurate to say "most of the plastic that we throw away ends up in our oceans", that line could have been altered to specify that litter is more likely to end up in oceans, or simply that a lot of plastic garbage ends up in oceans. Overall, a great way to get kids involved in caring for the environment!

[April Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of animal friends go to the beach and discover the water is polluted with plastic trash. One of them, who has been reading a magazine article about this issue, tells the others how plastic trash is ending up in the ocean through polluted rivers, streams, and other waterways, about the dangers to wildlife in the waters and surrounding areas, and they discuss what they can do to help fix the problem. They discuss reducing the amount of disposable plastic products they use, and reusing disposable plastic products- they make kites from the plastic bags they used to bring their food and other items in. So they hit the points of reduce and reuse, though they miss out on recycle- there could easily have been a bin for plastic bottles on the beach by adding one more picture spread. Overall, however, this quick story serves to start the conversation about becoming more environmentally responsible, and even offers a craft project at the back to decorate a reusable canvas bag for shopping. A good start for littles!

#PlasticSoup #NetGalley

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Digital ARC provided by NetGalley*
A cute and very basic introduction to plastic pollution in oceans. A group of friends visit the beach only to discover lots of plastic floating the ocean, a yucky plastic soup! The friends transform the trash into toys when their original kite breaks, and still have a great beach day when they fly their newly-made, plastic bag kites.
Children who love animals will like the cast of adorable, animal friends and the story describes the basic concept of ocean pollution in an age-appropriate fashion. The colors could be brighter- the washed out effect makes the book feel older rather than a brand new title, but nonetheless, the joy of reusing materials and making toys of out nothing will hopefully inspire younger and older children alike to see what they can do with the recycling in their life.

[Jamie Bee · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Little Preachy

This book tries to teach an environmental lesson about plastic. The young animal characters discover plastic trash during their day at the beach when they wade into the ocean. They agree that none of them like this. At the end of the story, they turn their plastic bags into kites. Just after the story, the author shares a very simple project showing how to make your own personalized fabric grocery bag. Personally, I thought the message was delivered in a somewhat heavy-handed way. I think it's good that children's books approach important topics and even explain how to do your part, even if it is small. But I just think a more delicate hand is needed, or else the story feels preachy, which this one did at times.

I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

My book blog: https://www.readingfanaticreviews.com

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the idea behind this book, but I don’t think the story is successful. A group of animal friends go for a day at the beach but find plastic in the ocean. They share a book and learn how all this plastic is causing other animals harm. They don’t want to eat or swim in plastic soup but want to fly a kite. The kite is broken so they turn their plastic bags into kites. The story is cute, and includes instructions on how to decorate your own canvas bags at the end, but I wish that had been part of the story instead. To end with flying plastic bag kites don't really teach kids how to use less plastic. So for this reader the lesson is lost.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plastic Soup is a cute book that teaches children about the issues we are facing without oceans today in a relatable way. It educates them on the root of the problem, and how to help prevent it by taking small steps at home such as helping clean up, repurposing and reusing plastic items, and reducing plastic use where possible.

The cute characters and bright, fun illustrations make it engaging for little ones, and it carries an important message.

Many thanks to Clavis Publishing and NetGalley for the Advance Copy.

[Cara BookShelfMomma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I think that it simply presented the problem of the amount of plastic that our country consumes and the reason why it is a problem (because it ends up in the oceans). I think that the illustrations are wonderful and it is a great visual presentation of the plastic problem. The introduction to all the characters int he beginning of the book was adorable, I think it is a great way for the kids to relate to which character they may be. I think that this would be a great book to read out loud to a class.

[Sammi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven adorable animal friends just hanging out on the beach until they realize plastic pollution is taking over. Then they set off on a mission to clean it up by reducing, reusing and recycling!

Adorable art work, great moral - animals + environmentalism I'm 100% here for it and love to teach it to kids starting at a young age.

Cover: 5/5 - obviously.
Audience: Children, Young readers
Beach, animals, environment
Loved it! Read this to your kids!
4.5/5

* I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review*

[Jessica Gard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute story that teaches children about the importance of properly disposing of plastics and recycling. As someone who lives in a coastal town, I really appreciated the fact that this story is told in a way that makes it easy for children to understand. I really enjoyed the unique characters and illustration style as well. There is even a fun activity at the end that will help your little ones take part in becoming a more eco conscious society!

[Shauna Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and Clavis Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute book with great illustrations highlighting the plastic pollution in the ocean. They talk about reusing plastic and even reuse the plastic bags as kites, but it would have been nice to see more conversations/actions regarding the other R’s. Great starter book to have the pollution conversation with children at an early age.

#PlasticSoup #NetGalley

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

This works as a successful primer for the very young to the idea of oceanic plastic – it's not talking about vortices of it out in the Pacific, or microplastics, it's just pointing out the typical trash you see floating downstream to our coastlines. It has a handy lesson about reusing plastics, if you have to use them at all, and all is jolly and bright. Lesson learnt.

[Nicci · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a sweet and simple story aimed at educating children on plastic pollution in our oceans and why it's important to reduce plastic use and to recycle. I loved that it covers such an important topic but does it in a way that entertains and educates without preaching.

The book contains a valuable lesson for all ages but is probably aimed at 3-7 year olds.