During the time I was stuck without power following Hurricane Gustav, I finished reading the first two Gaia Girls books, Enter the Earth and Way of Water. This eco-minded series is written for kids & young adults, but it’s the kind of series that can easily hook adult readers too.
I read them with the intention of passing them on to my Little Sister. I think she’s going to really like the second book, Way of Water, because this book centers around a Japanese-American girl who gets sent to live with her uncle in Japan. (The Little Sis is obsessed with all things Japanese, mostly due to manga, but I’m trying to stimulate her interest and give her books and info about other parts of Japanese culture as well.) I especially enjoyed Way of Water because it explored environmental issues affecting marine life, including dolphins and whales. When I was a kid I wanted to be a marine biologist, and even as a kid I was very aware of many of the issues affecting these creatures, so I hope that the book can inspire kids today to want to protect our oceans.
I really like these books because they hook you first with a great story but also manage to explore environmental issues in a way that is really approachable and easy for kids of almost all ages to understand. The first book, Enter the Earth, explained factory farming and Way of Water talked about the Japanese dolphin hunts. I thought that the second book was especially good because in addition to exploring environmental problems, it also introduced a lot of Japanese culture, which I think is really important for kids. If they grow up respecting and wanting to learn more about other cultures, it will make them less likely to judge others by the color of their skin and more willing to help protect the lands and cultures of people all over the world. The more kids that realize from an early age how interconnected we all are, the better off we’ll all be.
I can’t wait to read the rest of this series. There are still two more Gaia Girls to be introduced (representing the elements of air and fire) and then the story is supposed to bring the four girls together to help save the earth. I saw a review snippet somewhere that compares this series to a sort of Harry Potter for the eco-set, which I suppose is a pretty good assertion. These books are really enjoyable, and I’d highly recommend them to anyone with young children (or any reader who is simply young at heart).
Speaking of kids, don’t forget to leave a comment and enter the Pedoodles eco-friendly children’s shoe giveaway if you haven’t already! This Friday is the last day to enter!
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You should check out Bayard and their series of StoryBoxBooks, AdventureBoxBooks, and DiscoveryBoxBooks.
There’s lots going on too:
This Month Storybox has guest illustrator Helen Oxenbury featured.
There’s a Readathon happening in UK and Ireland – http://discoveryboxbooks.com/readathon.php
There’s a Ghost Drawing competition in AdventureBoxBooks assiciated with the Polka Theatre ( http://www.adventureboxbooks.com/competition.php )