March 2020: The "5 Rs" -- Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Cheryl wrote: "I liked that one, too!"

:-) It was a comment you made on my review that reminded me to post here. Thank you!

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

My review of The Dumpster Diver, a book much more appealing than its cover:

4.5 stars rounded up. I would have liked even more ideas of what could be done with more items.

Necessity is the mother of invention... and a mind that thinks like an inventor is also a problem-solving mind, and a creative mind.

A book everyone should read.

Except ppl in my family. We already donate, mend & fix, make do & do without, and repurpose & reuse, etc.

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Cheryl is busier irl atm. wrote: "My review of The Dumpster Diver, a book much more appealing than its cover:

4.5 stars rounded up. I would have liked even more ideas of what could be done with more items.

Necessit..."


Good to know, as the cover does nothing for me! We already try to do many of these things, too, but I like to share the books with my kids, anyway, just to help them see other people doing these things, or remind them that it's important, etc. so I will check this out. Thanks!

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

Milk and Juice: A Recycling Romance


A cute story with adorable illustrations that doubles as information on how plastic gets recycled into other uses. A gallon milk jug and a juice jug fall in love, but are separated when the juice container is tossed into the recycling bin. The book follows the two containers through their reincarnations into various shapes, (view spoiler)[until they are reunited in the end. (hide spoiler)] The book also shows the process by which plastic is repurposed into a new use. This is a fun way to show children what happens to the plastics in their recycling bins.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Oh my that sounds fun!

[QNPoohBear]

Beverly wrote: "Milk and Juice: A Recycling Romance


A cute story with adorable illustrations that doubles as information on how plastic get..."

That sounds adorable! I'll have to look for that at the library.

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Beverly wrote: "Milk and Juice: A Recycling Romance


A cute story with adorable illustrations that doubles as information on how plastic get..."

I just placed a hold for this :-)

[QNPoohBear]

I really liked Rainbow Weaver / Tejedora del Arcoiris , especially since I taught weaving to the student groups as part of their museum tour. Some kids said their grandma did that or their grandma showed them how to weave. Knowing the community here, I guessed Grandma might be from Guatemala or another country in South America where weaving is part of their tradition.

I like how Ixchel doesn't give up. She wants to help and she's determined to help. She keeps trying. She forgot to scour and card the wool before spinning but otherwise her spinning looks beautiful- albeit unrealistic. A quarter size piece of wool makes one long piece of yarn to tie around a 10-year-old's wrist as a bracelet. Maybe more if they stretch it correctly. Weaving is a much better skill for her and she figures out how to do it much easier and faster than I did. I'm impressed with her ingenuity and how her idea helps clean up the land.

The illustrations are beautiful. The Mayan cloth looks 3D like it's actually woven. The colors are bright and eye catching.

The backmatter explains about Mayan Hands, a women's cooperative selling woven products to benefit Mayan women. I looked at the website but didn't see anything really unique.

I didn't try to read the Spanish language pages yet. I'm not sure my Spanish is that good. I enjoyed reading the Kaqchikel words sprinkled throughout the book though.

[QNPoohBear]

Washed Ashore: Making Art from Ocean Plastic

Each two page spread features a color photo of a sculpture made from waste found in the oceans and on the beach - mostly plastic. At the top of the page is a cute description of the type of sea creature and how ocean waste affects that creature. Then the facing page has what you can do to help. At the bottom is a scavenger hunt where readers can search for the small pieces of plastic waste that make up certain parts of the sculpture. I didn't try too hard but the hunt was a lot more challenging than expected. When one sculpture had steering wheel listed, I realized the magnitude of these sculptures must be astounding. I saw one once at the Smithsonian and my niece said they saw an exhibit at an aquarium.

Backmatter includes how you can help, how you can have FUN cleaning the beaches, how the sculptures were made and how to make beach art from waste while you clean.

This is an incredibly important book that should be in every home and classroom around the world. It's good for older children and families/elementary age students. A MUST MUST MUST read!

https://www.washedashore.org/

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Thanks for the great additions to this list!