Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai (Frances Foster Books) |  | Author: Claire A. Nivola
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
List Price: $16.95
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as of 11/24/2009 23:56 CST details
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New (28) Used (17) from $6.97
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Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 24107
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Pages: 32
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 10.7 x 9.1 x 0.5
ISBN: 0374399182
Dewey Decimal Number: 333.72092
EAN: 9780374399184
ASIN: 0374399182
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the Green Belt Movement, grew up in the highlands of Kenya, where fig trees cloaked the hills, fish filled the streams, and the people tended their bountiful gardens. But over many years, as more and more land was cleared, Kenya was transformed. When Wangari returned home from college in America, she found the village gardens dry, the people malnourished, and the trees gone. How could she alone bring back the trees and restore the gardens and the people? Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature, says: “Wangari Maathai’s epic story has never been told better—everyone who reads this book will want to plant a tree!” With glowing watercolor illustrations and lyrical prose, Claire Nivola tells the remarkable story of one woman’s effort to change the fate of her land by teaching many to care for it. An author’s note provides further information about Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement. In keeping with the theme of the story, the book is printed on recycled paper.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
 Planting the Trees of Kenya:The Story of Wangari Maathai October 15, 2009
Irish Crone (Midwest)
I bought this book because there is a picture of my alma mater, Mount Saint Scholastica College for Women, Atchison, Kansas, in the book. It is important to me because the building no longer exists, nor does the college. It is always sad to lose part of ones personal history. Dr. Maathai was a student there a few years after my graduation. Her story, as told in the book, is quite well done and the pictures are delightful. She is certainly a credit to the Mount and her country. I hope that her story will remind young women today that it takes only a very simple idea to change the world of many.
Great book for showing kids they CAN make a difference May 12, 2009
The Book Nosher (Bainbridge Island, WA USA)
If you're looking for a book that shows how even the simplest act can change the world, then look no further. Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai is a beautifully illustrated book that does just that. It tells the story of Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.
The book begins with Maathai remembering the Kenya of her childhood, a verdant land filled with olive, fig and flame trees.
As a young adult, Wangari left Kenya to study biology in the United States for five years. Upon her return, she was dismayed to find that people had adapted new farming techniques and cut down the trees she remembered and loved from her childhood. The deforestation of the land caused the soil to erode and streams to dry up. She noticed that the Kenyans no longer grew their own food in family gardens. Instead they bought food in supermarkets, which was more expensive and less nutritious.
Wangari realized that the problems she saw all around her stemmed from the trees they were cutting down. Her solution was simple: Plant more trees. She went to the women in the villages and showed them how to collect the seeds from the remaining trees and prepare the soil. She taught them how to tend to the seedlings until they grew strong. As the idea caught on, the women saw the difference in the landscape. The woods were growing again, small farms were flourishing and their families were healthier. Wangari continued to spread the word throughout Kenya by going to schools, and even prisons, with the seedlings.
Planting the Trees of Kenya will make children feel like they can make a difference in the world. The watercolor illustrations are brilliant and invite you to linger a while on each page. The seemingly simple idea of planting trees grew into a national movement, resulting in thirty million trees planted in the last thirty years. Wangari's story will inspire you and your children. They will see how taking small steps towards resolving something that is wrong, can lead to big changes.
Have purchased 3 copies September 11, 2008
Customer (Berlin, MD USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is one of the most wonderful picture books this year. It reminds us that we are all capable of recognizing problems and making significant positive changes by taking individual action, and it tells the story of an incredible, real life African role model. The artwork is detailed and captivating.
I've given this book as a gift to three children so far this year and plan to keep gifting it!
Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children August 14, 2008
Yana V. Rodgers (New Brunswick, NJ)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
As a child growing up on a farm in Kenya's Central Highlands, Wangari Maathai delighted in the beauty of the fig, olive, and flame trees that graced the landscape, and she valued the clear water of the stream that flowed near her home. Sadly, these conditions changed for the worse in just a very short time while Wangari attended college in the United States. Distressed to return home to deforestation, soil erosion, dirty water, and a worsening in people's well-being, Wangari resolved to become a part of the solution. Her simple but powerful idea to start planting trees grew into a national movement that ultimately led to over forty million new trees planted in Kenya. Wangari's activist efforts included educating women, men, and children about why it was so important to their livelihood to plant tree seedlings. In 2004 she won the Nobel Peace Prize, the first African woman to receive this honor.
Children and adults alike will appreciate this book for its powerful message, rich illustrations, and informative author's note. Numerous economics ideas are woven into the text, with particular emphasis on the consequences of scarcity, the replenishment of natural resources, and the strengthening of women's autonomy. Despite the weighty topic, the tone is gentle. Children will unwittingly gain an important lesson in environmental activism while they enjoy an interesting story.
Heartwarming, Touching, A MUST have July 24, 2008
NCRK
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In teaching my children to be good citizens of the earth I seek out books to help me instill these values. This is a book I will treasure always, and I know my children will too. It is an amazing story of a woman who has an idea and the belief that she can change her small part of the world after many years have changed the village she once knew. Not only is this a great book from that perspective, but it encourages the principles of environmental stewardship. Plant a tree! We can change the world!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
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