Tomorrow's Earth Stewards

Did you know that garden snakes are actually beneficial to have in your garden? Here are three fun facts about these fascinating creatures:

1. Garden snakes help control pests like slugs and snails.

2. They are not venomous and are generally harmless to humans.

3. Garden snakes are great swimmers and can even climb trees!

So next time you see a garden snake, don’t be afraid! They’re just trying to help keep your garden healthy and thriving. 🐍🌱

Meet Isatou Ceesay, a Gambian environmental activist who started a recycling program in her village to help clean up plastic waste. Through her movement called One Plastic Bag, she educated women in The Gambia to recycle plastic waste into sellable products that earned them income. Her work has helped fight plastic pollution and empower women and young people to gain economic independence.

Have you ever wondered where all the water goes after it rains? 💧☀️ Ev***ration is the process by which water turns into v***r and disappears into the air.

Preview the first three pages here. Read the rest on our website. Link in bio!

Licypriya Kangujam is an Indian environmental activist who gained global recognition for advocating for climate action. Born in 2011, she started raising awareness about climate change at age 6. Licypriya organized several protests, including a solo protest in front of the Indian parliament, demanding climate action from world leaders. She's an inspiration to young people around the world for her activism at a young age.

Licypriya Kangujam is currently standing up against palm oil cultivation.

1️⃣ Palm oil production is responsible for destroying rainforests, threatening the habitats of endangered species like orangutans and tigers.

2️⃣ Palm oil cultivation contributes to climate change by releasing carbon into the atmosphere.

3️⃣ The palm oil industry has been linked to human rights violations, including child labor and exploitation of indigenous communities.

Waterbugs are some of the coolest creatures in the pond! 💧🐜 Check out these three fun facts about these amazing insects!

1️⃣ Waterbugs can "skate" on the surface of water, thanks to tiny hairs on their legs that trap air bubbles!
2️⃣ Some waterbugs can grow up to 4 inches long!
3️⃣ Waterbugs are predators and use their sharp beaks to catch and eat other insects and small fish!

“With beautiful and quirky drawings by Zachariah Ohora, Maurice and Lotta come to life as they navigate their colorful world while riding on their bikes. Through the story, readers are encouraged to rethink the value of bicycles in a society where most use automobiles as a form of transportation. Absolutely mesmerizing, wholesome, and timely, Bikes For Sale intertwines the power of bicycle culture, nature, and friendship for our generation and years to come.”

From Joy Chi’s review of Bikes For Sale by Carter Higgins, illustrated by Zachariah Ohora.

Check out the review and our other resources for children (young earth stewards!) on the TES website (link in bio!)

School gardens can be “laboratories for learning, in particular, learning about how nature works and about the science that underlies the world we all live in. When used by professional teachers, school gardens can also support language development, numeracy, and scholarly skills in general, as well as children’s understanding of complex processes and concepts such as the water cycle, decomposing, invasive species, symbiotic relationships, the albedo effect, and more. Yes, all these skills and knowledge can be developed in the classroom, but when also developed in school gardens, there can be a synergy created between garden and classroom that makes learning far more likely to happen and, well, more fun.”​​​​​​​​
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Learn about the amazing things having a school garden can do for children in cities, from Jane Hirschi, founder and director of CitySprouts.
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CitySprouts develops garden-based programs for urban public schools in Boston and Cambridge.​​​​​​​​
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School Gardens in the City • Tomorrow's Earth Stewards Around the world, over a billion children and youth live in cities – many in low-income neighborhoods where schools face unusual challenges. For these children and youth to connect to nature, care for nature, and learn from nature, they need extra supports - like school gardens – as Jane Hirschi...

“Once he wiggles out of the shell, the ocean floor looks wider than ever – but he isn’t afraid. He knows he’ll find friends willing to help him once more.”

“This idea of biocentric anthropomorphizing – fostering care and connection for nature by bringing nonhuman animal stories to life – runs through [Eric Carle’s] books about hungry caterpillars, mixed-up chameleons, and grouchy ladybugs.”

Read Leah Harrigan’s review on biocentric anthropomorphizing in Eric Carle’s books on our website.
Also check out read-aloud videos of Mister Seahorse and A House for Hermit Crab, and a complete list of his books, with all the languages they’ve been published in!
(link in bio)

“Being invited into communities of fish families and sea creatures both teaches and brings them to life, creating a likeness to the ways in which human animals care for one another in their own communities above water…Like Mr. Seahorse drifting gently through the water, there continually seems to be new (and surprising) ways to connect to the world around us.”

“Mister Seahorse” is a perfect example of biocentric anthropomorphizing among Eric Carle’s engaging stories and characters. Read more about it in Leah Harrigan’s review, “Beyond Seahorses and Hermit Crabs: Eric Carle’s Biocentric Anthropomorphizing for Fostering Empathy and Care”!
(Link in bio)
Illustrated by Eric Carle.

“The mycologist, Paul Stamets, refers to mushrooms as “tricksters”, and the forest ecologist, Suzanne Simard speaks of “mother” and “baby” trees “talking” to one another. And the science writer and prime instigator of the modern environmental movement, Rachel Carson, in response to criticism for being poetic when using anthropocentric language to explain the ocean, replied, ‘If there is poetry in my book about the sea, it is not because I deliberately put it there, but because no one could write truthfully about the sea and leave out the poetry.’”

Read "Letting ‘Mother Nature’ be ‘Just Like Me’: On the Use of Anthropomorphizing” by our editor George Scarlett! (link in bio)

Photo credit: CartoonCollections.com

Share with us how YOU like to anthropomorphize nature!

“The magical world of fungi is revealed through the journey of a curious young child venturing deep into the woods, discovering the allure of these remarkable organisms and their part in sustaining a beautiful and messy world…
Fungi narrate this story from their own point of view, revealing their wonder and complexity in simple, punchy statements that will amuse readers to unpack…
The story evokes ripe, fusty images where fungi grow and hide like the spaces between toes and within dead leaves. They look like slimy brains and strings of hair. They have pores, gills, wrinkles, caps, and all things that can be touched and marveled at.”
 
From a review of We Are Fungi, a storybook written and illustrated by Christine Nishiyama. Read more of the review by Leah Harrigan on our website; included also is a read-aloud video of the book by Butterfly Garden Preschool!
(Link in bio)

“What is it about fungi that fascinates and inspires?”
“How can mushrooms help us teach children how nature works?”
“What can fungi tell us about the precarious world we now live in?”

From a fascinating article by John Hornstein, “Deep Entanglements: Children and Fungi”, exploring ideas relevant for children and adults alike. (Link in bio)
Thank you to Ellen Dubreuil for the beautiful illustration!