We Are All Greta: Be Inspired to Save the World by Valentina Giannella, illustrated by Manuela Marazzi, 128 pp, RL 4
We Are All Greta: Be Inspired to Save the World
illustrated by Manuela Marazzi
Purchased from Barnes & Noble
We Are All Greta: Be Inspired to Save the World is is a phenomenal book that begins with Greta Thunberg, her family history and what drives her before moving on to the aspects of contemporary life that contribute to climate change, the global consequences of these actions and choices kids can make, both personally and as activists, to help save the world. The illustrations, design and format of this book are superbly engaging and accessible. As an adult, thinking about climate change and the choices I make as a consumer every day along with the devastation this is causing the earth is overwhelming and depressing. For me, as someone who dedicates much of her life to kids and kid's books, approaching this tremendous, vital, important, upsetting issue through the words of a child makes it easier (not that it SHOULD be easy) for me to begin the serious learning, thinking and changing that I need to do. On top of that, I'm not a fan of non-fiction. With all my baggage, Giannella and Marazzi's book is one that is highly readable.
Marazzi's illustrations give this book a graphic novel feel, while quotes from Thunberg and the occasional chart or diagram serve as great dividers for each of the eighteen (short) chapters. The book starts with a brief, interesting biography of Thunberg and the familial, educational and personal factors that lead to her becoming a climate activist. Chapter 3 starts on the science of climate change, discussing the greenhouse effect, something Greta's ancestor and Nobel-prize winning scientist Svante Arrhenius researched in the early 1900s. Resilience and country's ability to withstand and survive climate changes is the fascinating chapter that follows before chapters on how we can begin to build "the bridge that will save us." Chapters on sustainable development, fossil fuels, clean renewable energy, drinking water, waste and recycling and plastic that give readers an expansive and interconnected view of the world and the impact of the footprint humans are leaving on it. Ideas on dietary changes and changes that can be made in cities, which half the world's population live in give readers more to consider before a chapter that gives readers 10 things to do to help bring about change. The final chapter presents key words and websites readers can turn to for more information.
For a picture book biography of
Greta Thunberg:
