Tag Archive for: climate change

The Fish | Joanne Stubbs

 

‘There is a fish on the sand; I see it clearly. But it is not on its side, lying still. It is partly upright. It moves. I can see its gills, off the ground and wide open. It looks as though it’s standing up.’

A few decades into the twenty-first century, in their permanently flooded garden in Cornwall, Cathy and her wife Ephie give up on their vegetable patch and plant a paddy field instead. Thousands of miles away, expat Margaret is struggling to adjust to life in Kuala Lumpur, now a coastal city. In New Zealand, two teenagers marvel at the extreme storms hitting their island.

But they are not the only ones adapting to the changing climate. The starfish on Cathy’s kitchen window are just the start. As all manner of sea creatures begin to leave the oceans and invade the land, the new normal becomes increasingly hard to accept.

Our Final Warning | Mark Lynas

Mark Lynas’ 2008 book Six Degrees soon became a must-read for anyone concerned about the speed and severity of global heating. In its 2020 incarnation, updated to reflect the most recent scientific research and projections, Lynas’ analysis of how the world will change with each degree of warming pulls no punches about what’s at stake. But in leaving space for optimism and hope, the evidence he sets out becomes a powerful call to action as well as a timely and terrifying warning.

The Future We Choose | Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac

 

This book is an inspiring manifesto from Global Optimism Co-Founders, Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac. It begins by painting two futuristic scenarios: the first is the path we are on if we don’t put an urgent end to fossil fuels, and the second scenario is the future we could have.

Practical, optimistic and empowering, this book shows us a world we can all be a part of creating. This is the most important decade we have ever faced, and The Future We Choose shows how we can move beyond the climate crisis into a thriving future.

 

Eco Rangers: Wildfire Rescue | Candice Lemon-Scott

Eco Rangers - Candice Lemon-Scott

Young readers who love mysteries and the environment will love the action-packed story of Ebony and Jay, best friends who love to rescue wildlife. After a devastating wildfire in the bushland, Ebony and Jay are doing their best to find and rescue injured animals. Readers will help Ebony and Jay search for clues and nurse a possum back to health.

 

Read our Librarian’s top climate choices for children here.

How to Bee | Bren MacDibble 

How to Bee - Bren MacDibble

Nine-year-old Peony wants to be a bee – but all the bees in Australia have died, and children like her have to pollinate the fruit trees with feather wands. It’s a great introduction to dystopian fiction for readers aged eight to twelve.

 

Read our Librarian’s top climate choices for children here.

The Lonely Polar Bear | Khoa Le

The Lonely Polar Bear - Khoa Le

A polar bear cub finds himself alone on an iceberg after a terrible storm. Without his mother, he befriends puffins, whales, and a mysterious little girl. Vietnamese artist Khoa Le has illustrated a beautiful and whimsical story that subtly introduces young readers to the impact of climate change.

 

Read our Librarian’s top climate choices for children here.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs | Judi Barrett 

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - Judi Barrett

If quirky, unusual metaphors captivate your child, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is a perfect introduction to the climate crisis and consumption culture. The fantasy fiction book — with unforgettable illustrations — was published in 1978. It tackles extreme weather events, and what humans can do about them, with surreal humour. Read it to your pre-school children.

 

Read our Librarian’s top climate choices for children here.

Climate Change: A Ladybird Book | Charles Windsor and Tony Juniper

Climate Change: A Ladybird Book

This simple guide introduces kids to the history, dangers, and challenges of global warming, and leads them to explore possible solutions. Bolstered by classic Ladybird illustrations, the book provides clear and accessible information on the causes and effects of climate change. It also highlights the youth climate change movements and steps we can all take to help slow the progression of climate change.

 

Read our Librarian’s top climate choices for children here.

The Treeline | Ben Rawlence

The Arctic treeline is the frontline of climate change, where the trees have been creeping towards the pole for fifty years. These vast swathes of forests, which encircle the north of the globe in an almost unbroken green ring, comprise the world’s second largest biome.

Scientists are only just beginning to understand the astonishing significance of these northern forests for all life on Earth. Six tree species – Scots pine, birch, larch, spruce, poplar and rowan – form the central protagonists of Ben Rawlence’s story. In Scotland, northern Scandinavia, Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland, he discovers what these trees and the people who live and work alongside them have to tell us about the past, present and future of our planet.

At the treeline, Rawlence witnesses the accelerating impact of climate change and the devastating legacies of colonialism and capitalism. But he also finds reasons for hope. Humans are creatures of the forest; we have always evolved with trees. The Treeline asks us where our co-evolution might take us next. Deeply researched and beautifully written, The Treeline is a blend of nature, travel and science writing, underpinned by an urgent environmental message.

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The Most Important Comic Book on Earth | Rewriting Extinction

 

 


“Storytelling is our most ancient and powerful technology. Stories have shaped our world, have changed the course of history and transformed lives. It’s the life blood of our species, pumping through our collective cultural veins, informing our actions motivating us, spinning our webs of beliefs, ideologies and realities. No part of our lives remains untouched by the stories we are told or those we tell ourselves.

In many ways the ‘story’ of Extinction Rebellion has always been its most powerful asset, that by coming together in creative, collective civil disobedience we can harness our power and change a world hurtling towards a global catastrophe created by our insane systems and reckless appetites.

Paul Goodenough’s Rewriting Extinction project is a herculean attempt to reimagine our collective fate through story, to literally rewrite the mass extinction event currently under way. A dazzlingly ambitious collaboration of creative talent from across planet Earth, it contains wisdom from luminaries in the comic industry like John Wagner, Tula Lotay, Alan Moore and Amy Chu to the talent of people like Moses Brings Plenty, Lucy Lawless and Andy Serkis to name but a scant few.

It’s a love song, a war drum, a desperate plea and an inspirational call to arms to take action now on behalf of all life, to fight for every species, every inch of ground, every child growing up in these uncertain times. The project not only tells stories but weaves them into projects that are directly making a difference. The proceeds raised go towards a variety of projects and organizations that are contributing to our struggle for survival. These stories are dedicated to preserving life itself and this in itself is a testament to the power of change.

So read it, let it seep into your bones, then ponder what you can do to change the story of a planet heading for extinction, every action we take here on in is absolutely vital to every life living now. Rewriting Extinction is the only story worth telling our children, is the only story worth living and breathing. Because if we can craft a vision of change, can become that change, future generations may just look back on this era as the greatest story ever told.” ~ Simon Bramwell