Wangari's Trees of Peace by Jeanette Winter

This story brings hope and promise to the classroom by promoting positive change. Just one person can make a world of difference. In Wangari's Trees of Peace, Wangari lives near Mount Kenya in Africa where she gathers firewood for cooking and plants vegetables for food. Her academic success leads her to America to study, but when she returns six years later, she finds her country devastated. No longer do crops or trees grow. Worried for Kenya, Wangari begins by planting nine seedlings, which emerges into a project designed to start a tree nursery. The news spreads and more village women agree to plant trees, and slowly other villages, towns, and cities join. Soon budding life returns to Wangari's village and other communities. When the cutting continues, Wangari remains committed to her cause even when jailed. Still, her cause spreads-30 million trees are planted. Crops once again grow and the land of Africa is restored.

This book is a great example of what we as individuals can do to go green! It would be very appropriate for a unit on the environment or on Earth Day in particular. Since going green is such a major topic of discussion these days, Wangari's Trees of Peace shows just how much influence once person can have when devoted to a cause. As the booksleeve reads, "this true story of Wangari Maathai...is a shining example of how one woman's passion, vision,and determination can inspire great change." Rooted in such a simple idea, planting trees in place of the ones cut down restores life and vitality to a previously barren land. Without Wangari's idea, the land may have eroded to an unfertile desert. Students can realize that they too can make a difference by doing the little things such as recycling, taking shorter showers, not using disposable water bottles, turning off the lights when not in use, etc. Each of these small actions builds to create a better environmental situation for the future.

Having never heard the story of Wangari Maathai before, I was impressed when I read the author's note at the end of the story. Wangari started Green Belt Movement Kenya in 1977. As an environmentalist, Maathai was worried by the deforestation of her homeland. In this way, this book could also connect students with the conflicts between economic interests and environmental interests that often clash. The topic of conservation can arise. Whether it is deforestation, pollution, or a discussion on fossil fuels, the tension between the economy and the environment arises again and again. Wangari, a well-educated woman, was also the first woman from East Africa to earn a Ph.D. In 2004, she won the Nobel Peace Prize for her "contribution to world peace through the Green Belt Movement."

With an impressive life story, Wangari shows us how the chain reaction can work effectively. If you tell a few people, and those people tell a few people, eventually word spreads successfully, promoting worthy change into a community, a country, or even a continent. Start by planting one tiny seed, and eventually you'll have a thriving garden. Perhaps after reading this book teachers can connect with their principal or a local park and plant their own tree or garden to follow in Wangari's footsteps. With bright acrylic illustrations to accompany this story and pictures of the changing landscape, this book is a story full of excitement and promise for the future.