Crusading kids get valuable guide book

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This article was published 15/06/2024 (815 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Do you know a young person who wants to make a difference? To help reduce climate change? To stop illegal hunting of elephants? To make the world a fairer place? Then Joan Marie Galat’s Make Your Mark, Make a Difference: A Kid’s Guide to Standing Up for People, Animals, and the Planet (Aladdin, 352 pages, $19, paperback), is a book they need.

Edmonton author Galat has gathered an immense amount of information on projects that anyone can join to add their voice, their time or their energy to help a good cause. From reducing garbage at home to protesting pollution in space, this book gives readers practical ways to become engaged. Besides suggesting numerous ventures young people can undertake, it details places and people to contact in order to become more involved. First-person stories tell how others have successfully tackled problems and made a difference.

Galat has written over 25 books including The Story of Malala Yousafzai and Too Much Trash: How Litter is Hurting Animals. For ages 10 and up.

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We all know the story of the three little pigs, right? What if their attempts at house-building were subjected to scientific analyses?

In Professor Goose Debunks The Three Little Pigs (Tundra, 40 pages, $25, hardcover), by beloved children’s author Paulette Bourgeois, that’s exactly what takes place.

Bourgeois, who is best known for her series of Franklin the Turtle books, points out that straw can be very sturdy building material, especially if it is bound in bundles. And sticks? If they are used for beam and trusses, they would easily withstand a few wolf’s puffs.

The most amusing part is where Bourgeois suggests future pastimes for the pigs and their attacker. Basketball player? Mud bather? Computer analyst?

If you want a story that will also teach your early reader a lot about structures and materials, then this is the book for you. Colourful illustrations done with pen and line drawing by Toronto artist Alex G. Griffiths add considerably to this picture book’s appeal. For ages 5-8.

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Newfoundland is well known for its legends, and its people for their storytelling skills. In Luna and the Heart of the Forest (Breakwater Books, 240 pages, $20, paperback), first-time children’s author Adam Karlin combines myths and fantasy in a wild tale of adventure and intrigue.

Eleven-year-old Luna and her father, whom she calls Big Bear, are visiting Newfoundland for the first time. When Luna wanders alone into the forest she meets the ghosts of Viking warriors and strange creatures combining parts of humans and animals.

With similar themes to Indigenous legends in David A. Robertson’s books, Luna must try to rescue her father’s life essence and restore meaning to a community that has lost its reason for existing.

Karlin is an American who seems to have fallen in love with Newfoundland. For ages 9-12.

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A little girl is determined to show her Taiwan-born mother that Canada also has places to walk and plants to enjoy. In A Garden Called Home (Tundra, 48 pages, $25, hardcover) by B.C.-born Jessica J. Lee, a young girl tempts her homesick mother outdoors in winter to see chickadees, nutcrackers and different species of pine trees.

In the spring they plant a garden together, with cabbages and scallions, larkspur and buttercups. Gradually her mother realizes that their kitchen garden is a place she can call home.

Lee now lives in Germany and has written three books on nature for adults. Attractive illustrations done in gouache on watercolour paper by Vancouver artist Elaine Chen make this a welcome addition to springtime reading for first readers. For ages 5-8.

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Helen Norrie is a Winnipeg writer who also enjoys springtime gardens.