To Change a Planet

July 1, 2022

PreS-Gr 2-In short, elegant lines of lyrical prose, Soontornvat explores the history of humanity's relationship to Earth and confronts the modern threat of extreme weather events and environmental destruction. While these passages offer a sober warning, the book's overall tone is hopeful, centered around the conviction that, just as we can exacerbate the effects of climate change, so too can we forestall and reverse them. Bell's art, a combination of gouache and digital painting, provides a compelling mix of scientific illustration (a carbon molecule, a bleached coral reef) and metaphorical imagery (a benevolent face in the sun, atmospheric carbon represented as a quilt wrapped around the globe). VERDICT This clear-eyed discussion of climate change will educate young readers without demoralizing them. A worthy purchase for all collections, -Jonah Dragan

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Starred review from July 15, 2022
Earth's beauty and fragility provide the impetus for activism in this introduction to climate change. In the opening and concluding compositions, Bell's gouache and digital full-bleed spreads employ a circular motif to frame and represent the book's subject. "One person. / Small, quiet, / insignificant" appears on the landscape, a brown-skinned child wearing shorts and a green, flowing scarf. Observant readers will follow this character throughout the narrative. As the population grows, the planet changes; readers see traffic congestion, deforestation, cattle farms, and air pollution. The impact on this gorgeous world is shown as a polar bear and its young glide by on separate ice floes, floods and wildfires arrive with changing seasons, and parched farmland yields dried-up crops. Challenging concepts are conveyed simply: Greenhouse gases are shown stifling the globe like a "too-warm blanket." Soontornvat repeats "when one person, / and one person, / and one person / become many" to first show the negative effects on the planet and then the possibilities when more people use solar panels, install wind turbines, and plant gardens. By the time the protagonist joins marchers in Washington, D.C., diverse throngs fill the pages. Their signs and subsequent letters to a city council, a senator, and a grandmother ("I went to my very first climate march yesterday") suggest concrete ways for children to make a difference. (This book was reviewed digitally.) An attractive entree to a vital subject for the youngest citizens. (author's note, sources) (Picture book. 4-8)

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