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Your hair is different, or you got new glasses, you smile
more. You’ve changed, and that’s good. So find Kids
Who Are Changing the World by Anne Jankeliowitch,
photographs by Yann Arthus-Bertrand to read about kids
who have different changes in mind.
Someday, the planet on which you’re standing will be yours.
That means you probably want to take good care of it, and of
the other people who’ll own it, too. No doubt, you’ve got
some awesome (and very unique) ideas on how to do that. And
if not – well, why not learn from kids who’ve done something
for the Earth?
Twenty years after the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro,
people are still talking about the 12-year-old Canadian girl
who “silenced the world.” Severn Cullis-Suzuki gave a
speech in front of United Nations delegates who sat,
quietly, and listened to the powerful words she had to say.
You can still, in fact, see clips of her speech online.
Alex Lin was upset at the lack of recycling of electronic
equipment – so he changed the whole state of Rhode Island by
helping to pass laws on electronic waste. Best of all, he
and his friends refurbish computers and donate them to
schools in Sri Lanka, Mexico, the Philippines and Kenya.
Qier Qiu from China urges people to eat with reusable
chopsticks, thereby saving trees. Thirteen-year-old Anya
Suslova collected water samples for scientists in Russia.
Laurie Wolff in Nevada persuaded her school to use virtual
dissection in biology class. A girl in India asked her
school to compost with worms. Ten-year-old Jahmali
Bridgewater from Bermuda attended a conference to exchange
ideas with kids around the world.
Your project can be easy (many children planted trees or
create educational websites) or it can be very complicated
(Annie Collins of British Columbia helped set up a fair
trade program for her city.) It can be big (a California boy
filed a lawsuit) or small (just picking up litter helps!).
So what’s your next project?
That’s a hard question when you’re a kid. Where do you
start?
Kids Who are Changing The World
answers that by giving your child plenty of ideas that will
provoke thoughts for you, too. For instance, it’s impressive
to see the variety of kids that author Anne Jankeliowitch
features: children – some still in grade school, some in
non-traditional learning environments – who saw a need and
acted upon it, proving there is no age or ability limit to
make a difference. I was also glad to see such passion for
the planet – and when you add in photography by Yann Arthus-Bertrand,
you’ve got a hopeful, optimistic winner to read.
Not all kids will clamor for this book, but ecology-minded
10-to-15-year-olds will surely be inspired by it. Hand them
Kids Who are Changing the World and see how they
change, too. |
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