The Canadian Junior Green Guide: How YOU Can Help Save Our World

Laurence Steven is Chairman of the English Department at Laurentian
University and author of Dissociation and Wholeness in Patrick White’s
Fiction.

Growing a dirtless garden, going on a junk-food fast, finding gold in
your garden: these are some of the ingenious projects the authors of
this book hope will kick-start the younger set onto the road to
environmental activism. In this follow-up to the popular 1988 Canadian
Green Consumer Guide, the authors have extended the subject’s appeal
to kids by presenting a lively almanac of facts, good news, bad news,
clever projects, and suggestions for positive action. Our guides are
members of the Green Team: Green Crusader, Green Detective, Green
Shopper, and Green Scientist. To the authors’ credit these characters
are not gender-stereotyped. The Green Scientists, a googly-eyed white
rat in lab coat (a rather subtle role reversal), even breaks the bounds
of species stereotyping.

With the help of colorful illustrations, stimulating experiments, and
creative projects, the Team introduces the reader to most of today’s
serious environmental issues, including acid rain, deforestation, and
pesticide use. At the same time, however, it offers small-scale possible
solutions and actions; these should give young readers a sense of
empowerment that will, one hopes, stay with them after they put the book
down. A great section at the end lists organizations and publications,
highlighting those specifically geared to kids. (The cover boasts of
poetry by Dennis Lee, but the poems are few and far between, and some
seem a bit contrived.)

The litany of serious issues presented could be overwhelming to some
children, and it is doubtful that most would choose to read this book
for entertainment. Therefore, don’t buy this book as a gift for a
child; instead, buy it for parents and children to enjoy together, or as
a resource book for your school or library.