2018 Green Earth Book Winners Announced
“The Nature Generation Announces National Green Earth Book Award Winners
Modern day storytellers shed light on complicated environmental issues
April 20, 2018– Arlington, Va. — The Nature Generation, an environmental nonprofit, has announced the winners of its United States’ 2018 Green Earth Book Award.
The national award recognizes books that best convey the environmental stewardship message and inspire youth to grow a deeper appreciation, respect, and responsibility for their natural environment.
“These winning and honor books are tools that offer young and old alike a way to bridge the environmental literacy gap,” said Amy Marasco, founder and president of The Nature Generation. “I encourage schools, librarians, youth groups and families to make these books available and accessible to our youth.”
Picture Book
Creekfinding: A True Story, Jacqueline Briggs Martin, illustrated by Claudia McGehee
(University of Minnesota Press) Ages 4-9.
A true story about a man who brought a creek and a whole world of nature back to life after it was long buried under fields of corn. This heartening tale of an ecosystem restored in the Driftless Area of Iowa unfolds in a way that will charm and inform young readers.
Honor Winner:
Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story, Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Jessica Lanan
(Sleeping Bear Press) Ages 6-9.
Children’s Nonfiction
Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem, Patricia Newman
Why did one inlet grow healthy seagrass while other ones suffered? Sea otters! With both irresistible otter photos and scientific diagrams, this book explains ecosystems and how its inhabitants affect it at every level. Explains the often-damaging effect humans have and ways in which young people can help the environment on a daily basis. (Millbrook Press) Ages 9-14.
Honor Winners:
The Hidden Life of a Toad, Doug Wechsler (Charlesbridge) Ages 4-8.
This Book Stinks! Gross Garbage, Rotten Rubbish, and the Science of Trash, Sarah Wassner Flynn (National Geographic Kids) Ages 8-12.
Children’s Fiction
Forest World, Margarita Engle
Award-winning author’s lively novel in verse tells the story of a Cuban-American boy who visits his family’s village in Cuba for the first time. Weaved throughout is the message of importance of biodiversity, and how Cubans are trying to save their own flora and fauna from tourists, poachers, and climate change. (Atheneum Books for Young Readers) Ages 10-99.
Honor Winner:
The Last Panther, Todd Mitchell
(Delacorte Books for Young Readers) Ages 8-12.
Young Adult Nonfiction
Trashing the Planet: Examining Our Global Garbage Glut, Stuart A. Kallen
Globally, humans create around 2.6 trillion pounds of waste every year. What can we do to keep garbage from swallowing up Earth? Reducing, reusing, recycling, and upcycling are some answers. Learn more about the efforts of government, business, research, and youth as they work to solve our planet’s garbage crisis. (Twenty-First Century Books) Ages 10-16.
Honor Winner:
Geoengineering Earth’s Climate: Resetting the Thermostat, Jennifer Swanson (Twenty-First Century Books) Ages 13-18.