An uplifting tale with can-do tasks for kids to help fight climate change.
A schoolgirl inspires her class to be one with nature in this upbeat story about climate change.
When Patsy Beth’s class goes on a walk in the school garden, she thinks it’s too quiet. Her teacher explains that climate change has caused some bees and birds to move to different regions, following the plants they use for food. Patsy Beth becomes sad, in an expression of glumness captured with just the right emphasis in Dresen’s mixed-media illustrations. But Patsy Beth isn’t about to settle for quiet nature; she comes up with a plan, first to plant the kinds of plants that the bees, butterflies, and birds will love. Next, she starts tackling a movement to get her friends and family to use less electricity. (Her brother Jay explains to his class, “There’s too much carboddy doxiddy gas in the air. It’s a big problem! We need help!”) Christie-Blick focuses Patsy Beth’s story on activities that kids can feasibly do, providing notes for teachers and parents on the data that shows climate change and its impacts, along with core ideas to tie into educational standards. Patsy Beth and Jay are characters readers will easily empathize with, and Patsy Beth’s enthusiasm and unwillingness to give up may inspire readers as much as those same qualities inspire her classmates. Dresen makes clever use of black-and-white photography to show the affected “quiet” landscape on which her illustrated characters interact. The photos are replaced with full-color illustrations once Patsy Beth’s garden is built.
An uplifting tale with can-do tasks for kids to help fight climate change.Pub Date: Dec. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9798899770067
Page Count: 38
Publisher: NSTA Kids
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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