Mama Miti

“Nelson’s pictures, a jaw-dropping union of African textiles collaged with oil paintings, brilliantly capture the villagers’ clothing and the greening landscape…This is, in a word, stunning.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Nelson’s (We Are the Ship) breathtaking portraits of Maathai often have a beatific quality; bright African textiles represent fields, mountains, and Maathai’s beloved trees…Napoli (The Earth Shook) creates a vivid portrait of the community from which Maathai’s tree-planting mission grows.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A beautiful introduction for children just learning about the Greenbelt Movement.” —School Library Journal Anne Izard Storytellers’ Choice Award CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children’s Book Council) California Collections NAACP Image Award Nominee Through artful prose and beautiful illustrations, Donna Jo Napoli and Kadir Nelson tell the true story of Wangari Muta Maathai, known as “Mama Miti,” who in 1977 founded the Green Belt Movement, an African grassroots organization that has empowered many people to mobilize and combat deforestation, soil erosion, and environmental degradation. Today more than 30 million trees have been planted throughout Mama Miti’s native Kenya, and in 2004 she became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Wangari Muta Maathai has changed Kenya tree by tree—and with each page turned, children will realize their own ability to positively impact the future.

Wangari Maathai. The “Black and Green Woman”. This transcendental Kenyan, awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, conferred a new approach to the relashionship of man with nature. The comic proposes an approach to the figure and work of Maathai focusing on respect and admiration. The story takes the shape of a documentary where the real protagonist is incorportated into nature, from the perspective of a humble voyager.

This dynamic book provides powerful ideas to guide pedagogy and a curriculum model for helping students connect with issues in their lives while meeting standards. Vivid portraits of K12 classrooms illustrate how teachers used a human rights framework to engage students in critical inquiry of relevant social issues, such as immigration rights, religious tolerance, racial equality, countering the effects of poverty, and respect for people with disabilities. The book shows how a group of teachers worked together to develop a critical content framework using the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Chapters highlight lively classroom and community action projects.

Whether used for thematic story times, program and curriculum planning, readers' advisory, or collection development, this updated edition of the well-known companion makes finding the right picture books for your library a breeze. Generations of savvy librarians and educators have relied on this detailed subject guide to children's picture books for all aspects of children's services, and this new edition does not disappoint. Covering more than 18,000 books published through 2017, it empowers users to identify current and classic titles on topics ranging from apples to zebras. Organized simply, with a subject guide that categorizes subjects by theme and topic and subject headings arranged alphabetically, this reference applies more than 1,200 intuitive (as opposed to formal catalog) subject terms to children's picture books, making it both a comprehensive and user-friendly resource that is accessible to parents and teachers as well as librarians. It can be used to identify titles to fill in gaps in library collections, to find books on particular topics for young readers, to help teachers locate titles to support lessons, or to design thematic programs and story times. Title and illustrator indexes, in addition to a bibliographic guide arranged alphabetically by author name, further extend access to titles.

Teaching Geography Creatively was Winner of the Geographical Association Gold Award 2014 and Winner of the Geographical Association Silver Award 2017. This fully updated second edition of Teaching Geography Creatively is a stimulating source of guidance for busy trainee and experienced teachers. Packed full of practical approaches for bringing the teaching of geography to life, it offers a range of innovative ideas for exploring physical geography, human geography and environmental issues. Underpinned by the very latest research and theory, expert authors from schools and universities explore the inter-relationship between creativity and learning, and consider how creativity can enhance pupils’ motivation, self-image and well-being. Two brand new chapters focus on creative approaches to learning about the physical world, as well as the value of alternative learning settings. Further imaginative ideas include: games and starter activities as entry points for creative learning how to keep geography messy the outdoors and learning beyond the classroom how to teach geography using your local area the links between geography and other areas of the curriculum looking at geography, creativity and the future fun and games in geography engaging with the world through picture-books teaching about sustainability. With contemporary, cutting-edge practice at the forefront, Teaching Geography Creatively is an essential read for all trainee and practicing teachers, offering a variety of practical strategies to create a fun and stimulating learning environment. In the process it offers a pedagogy that respects the integrity of children as joyful and imaginative learners and which offers a vision of how geography can contribute to constructing a better and more equitable world.

Stop summer slide, stay summer smart! From the creators of America’s #1 educational bestseller Brain Quest comes Summer Brain Quest: Between Grades 1 & 2—a workbook, a game, and an outdoor adventure! It’s an interactive and personalized quest to keep kids excited about learning all summer long between 1st and 2nd grades. Summer Brain Quest: Between Grades 1 & 2 begins with a map that guides you through a workbook filled with activities based on reading comprehension, writing, addition and subtraction, earth science, the seasons, telling time, and more! As you complete activities, you earn stickers to track your progress on the map. Jam-packed with curriculum-based exercises, bonus challenges, outside activities, over 150 stickers, a summer reading list, and a Brain Quest mini deck, Summer Brain Quest: Between Grades 1 & 2 covers the core concepts in English language arts, math, science, and social studies so kids keep essential skills sharp all summer.

“I don’t think it is enough appreciated how much an outdoor book the Bible is,” wrote Wendell Berry, and author Daniel Cooperrider illustrates his point with beautiful narrative—like a stroll through the woods. Speak with the Earth analyzes the Bible’s treatment of nature and intersperses this analysis with the author’s own reflections on experiences in nature. Organized in sections touching on the four elements, the book engages with the multifaceted relationship between the Bible and nature through various media, including art, theology, the natural sciences, history, and lived experience. A timely work on the gift of the Earth that makes a strong case for environmental conservation as a cornerstone of religious life.

Inspired by the #1 New York Times bestseller She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger comes a chapter book series about women who spoke up and rose up against the odds--including Wangari Maathai! In this chapter book biography by critically acclaimed author Eucabeth Odhiambo, readers learn about the amazing life of Wangari Maathai--and how she persisted. When Wangari Maathai learned about how many trees had been cut down in Kenya, where she was from, she was horrified. So she founded the Green Belt Movement and got friends, family, and even strangers to help her plant trees and respect the environment--and she received a Nobel Peace Prize for her work. Complete with an introduction from Chelsea Clinton, black-and-white illustrations throughout, and a list of ways that readers can follow in Wangari Maathai's footsteps and make a difference! And don’t miss out on the rest of the books in the She Persisted series, featuring so many more women who persisted, including Malala Yousafzai, Oprah Winfrey, and more!