This morning the kids and I set down to read a couple eco themed books. The first I will review now and the other in a separate post because one I loved and the the other really irritated me to no end and I don’t want to associate the two.
Anyway, the first book we read was N is for Nature – An Environmental Alphabet Book from Green Sugar Press. It is written by Tim Magner and illustrated by Mike Nudelman. The book was very appropriate for my 3 year old and 4 year old audience members since they are both in varying stages of learning their letters.
I loved this book. It was beautifully written and illustrated even if I thought some of the letter associations were a bit strange like J for Jaws. Most made sense to me though…H for Habitat, O for Ocean, W for Wetland. The illustrations show the shape of the letter weaving in the environmental aspects so they get a sense for letter shapes but they also learn about the environment at the same time in a very simple and fun way. It took awhile to read since my 4 year old wanted to turn every page into a discussion. ;) It had many small and interesting facts about the eco system we live in that they are sure to remember which is what this book is all about, weaving learning and environmental consciousness all into one.
My daughter and I both had a favorite page that highlights why this book is so fun and special…the page for T which discusses trees.
For the air we breathe, the water you drink, and the forests you see, we say “Thank you” to our friends the trees. Without them there would be no you or me. And they do all of this for free.
It is just simple, fun, and educational. The pictures are beautiful too. My 3 year old son held on to the book for an hour afterwards just looking at them. This one is definitely a keeper for our family library and a great intro to Green Sugar Press. They attempt to encourage kids to be kids: exploring, examining and investigating the natural world around them. Their approach is excellent…especially in light of the doom and gloom eco themed book aimed at kids we read AFTER this one from another publisher.
I would not hesitate to recommend Green Sugar Press and N is for Nature to all eco kids and their parents. They have a great product and a great approach to teaching kids about the environment and getting them excited about it.
Check out Green Sugar Press.
