Planet Power

October 1, 2021

K-Gr 2-This title presents climate change conversations to children in a way that can help them process the planet's current state, find real-world examples of solutions, and get answers to their questions about solar power, fossil fuels, hydropower, and more. In colorful illustrations serving as artful recreations of global locations and as informational scientific diagrams, readers are invited into the science of climate change research. The book begins with an illustrated view of the world and spends the remainder of the text hopping from place to place and visiting researchers in different locales. These scientists study a particular means of planet power: hydro, solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, and wave. Each of these researchers is introduced later in short biographies, humanizing science and inspiring young readers to pursue planet power projects of their own. The book's structure relies on terminology to tell the story of planet power, introducing kids to the ways they might experience this power in their everyday worlds (e.g., rain or rivers; sunshine; tides; swimming fish), and how these experiences relate to renewable energy. Concepts briefly introduced earlier in the book, typically written in clear prose or rhymed stanzas, are supplemented with detailed information and resources for further exploration in the final pages. This book is of interest across various reading levels, with rhymed reading for storytelling and bibliographic material for those seeking additional information VERDICT A thorough and accessible informational text for climate change discussions and reports.-Jessica Schriver, Rutgers Univ., Newark, NJ

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2021
With water, wind, sun, and its own subterranean heat, our Earth can supply green electricity to power human activities. This exploration of energy options presents six alternatives to the fossil fuels that currently dominate our electrical power supply, each using a different force to generate power. Each power source is described in brief abcb rhyming stanzas accompanied by a few sentences of explanation and two illustrations on a pair of spreads; they are described in more detail in extensive backmatter. The examples include hydropower from a dam in Paraguay, solar farms in India, wind farms in northern China, tidal turbines in New York Harbor, geothermal power in Kenya, and wave power in Gibraltar. The first 29 pages are likely intended for reading aloud, but the rhymes and rhythm strain, and the four-beat pulses become tedious. Spreads include a title indicating the energy source; important words are set in boldface and defined in context, but there is no glossary or index. The last section is by far the most useful, with simple explanations and diagrams that facilitate understanding of the similarities and differences among these power sources and their working parts. Sadly, while the writer rightly criticizes the way fossil fuels have damaged the environment, she does not touch on environmental changes caused by dams, fields of solar farms, windmills, etc. Look at the illustrations, skip the poetry, and learn from the prose. (Informational picture book. 7-10)

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