 New book combats kids’ eco-fears
As a father of two James Russell knows what keeps children awake at night, and global warming is high on the list. When he found a piece of paper on which his eight-year-old daughter had repeatedly scribbled NO CLIMATE CHANGE!
He decided to look into the matter further and discovered a widespread problem. A 2007 national review of Primary education (1) reported among children “a sense of deep pessimism about the future.”
“Many expressed concern about climate change, global warming and pollution… Some children also deplored the gulf between the world’s rich and poor.” What struck the Bristol-based primary school governor most, however, was what happened when kids had a chance to learn more about the issues that scared them:
“Yet where schools had started engaging children with global and local realities as aspects of their education they were noticeably more upbeat. In several schools children were involved in environmental and energy-saving projects and the sense that ‘we can do something about it’ seemed to make all the difference.”
With this in mind, Russell wrote ‘How to Turn Your Parents Green’, a book that aims to help children sleep better at night both by presenting environmental issues in a fresh and funny way and by empowering kids to take action for themselves.
Adopting a style reminiscent of Roald Dahl and the Horrible Histories series, Russell addresses 8-12 year olds in terms they readily understand, sweetening important messages with plenty of laughs.
‘How to Turn Your Parents Green’ is unique in offering children practical tips on tackling climate change in the home and at school, even suggesting a system of fines for adults who won’t comply. This attracted attention from a columnist in The Times, while the book as a whole has created a buzz around the Internet. The respected children’s book magazine ‘Books for Keeps’ gave it four stars out of five.
How to Turn Your Parents Green is now on sale in Australia and the USA, as well as in the UK. |
“This is much more than just a book. It is a manual for a movement. And not just any movement, but one which – in avoiding the civilisational collapse threatened by the twin crises of peak oil and climate change – could prove to be the most important social force humanity has ever seen.” – Mark Lynas, author of Six Degrees
