Has your grown-up ever refused to believe in climate change? Have they stuck with habits that are harming our planet? Never fear – How To Teach Grown-Ups About Climate Change is the handbook that will help to reason with them.
There is some fantastic information here such as what greenhouse gases are doing to the climate, how the industrial revolution lead to population increase and the burning of fossil fuels, the effect that the climate crisis is having on different areas of the planet such as the oceans and the uneven impact this is currently having on humans from different parts of the world. illustrations keep the reader entertained and are also used to inform. There are some brilliant visual representations such as pictograms and diagrams that show the impact of climate change without the need for huge amounts of reading.
This is partly a book about raising awareness of the climate crisis and it certainly gives young readers some hints and tips about how to deal with particular things that grown-ups might say. This also works to hide the educational value of the book and teach the child about this area of science. By giving them agency and allowing them to feel that they are the ones already in the know the book keeps them reading. The ‘test your grown-up’ quiz at the back of the book, for example, is really a chance for young readers a chance to revise!
It is great to see a shorter book on this massive issue and the text certainly doesn’t underestimate the ability of its readers. I liked that, in places where it might have become overly complicated for some readers, it phrases what has just been said differently in the same way that a teacher might reword things for children who appear not to have fully understood what has been said. This is done very subtly and it allows the reader to either keep up or to learn a reasonable amount from a section to make reading it worth their time.
The design is brilliant. The green illustrations and text bubbles contrast nicely with the black font and remind the reader of the subject matter – the climate – at a glance. Different styles of lettering will appeal to many younger readers who will be keen to try to recreate the letters for themselves. It also adds to the impression of the handbook for kids in the battle against ignorant adults!
This is the second book in the ‘How To Teach Grown-Ups’ series that I have seen and I think it is a wonderful addition to the publisher’s range of information books for younger readers. The series appeals equally to children who already know lots about a subject and to children who are reading about something for the first time but who like the feeling of being in the know compared to adults. I am looking forward to seeing the series grow and hope it branches out into many different areas of knowledge over time.
- How To Teach Grown-Ups About Climate Change by Patricia Daniels and Aaron Blecha is out now from What On Earth Books. RRP. £9.99 (Received as part of a promotional blog tour)
