Reviewed by Henricus Peters “Just another book on the environment?” I hear you say… No, actually, Protect Our Planet is different as it comes from a young conservationist: an 11-year old eco-warrior from Durban in South Africa, who has already done more beach cleanups and tree-planting than most adults. The book, aimed at children but…
Leadership for Sustainability: saving the planet one school at a time David Dixon, Crown House Publishing, 2022 250pp, paperback, £18.99, ISBN 978-1-78135-401-8 September 2022 saw the 60th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring which drew attention to the devastating impact that the indiscriminate use of pesticides such as DDT was having on the natural world. It…
Henricus Peters reviews Flames of Extinction: the race to save Australia’s threatened wildlife by John Pickrell. A carefully researched and deeply empathetic portrayal of the battle to save Australia’s precious wildlife as we cook our planet”. Gaia Vince, author of ‘Adventures in the Anthropocene’ is certainly correct in this statement. John Pickrell has upturned seemingly every possible rock…
Sue Shanks reviews Mother Earth is Weeping by Claire Donald. This slim little book follows Mother Earth as she shares her worries with the moon about the negative environmental impact that people are having on the planet. Turning to the Sun, Mother Earth and the Moon are cheered by the Sun’s belief that there is capacity for…
Planktonia: the nightly migration of the ocean’s smallest creatures by Erich Hoyt Whilst our planet is covered 75% in salt water to the extent it should be called ‘Blue Planet’ or ‘Planet Ocean’, we still know very little about the ocean waters and their treasures: the amazing organisms that call these waters home. This is especially true…
Sue Fenoughty reviews I Love My World by Chris Holland. Another Devonian, children’s author Michael Morpurgo, strongly recommends this book as being “a must for all”. Chris Holland is obviously passionate, and very knowledgeable about the natural environment, especially plants, and the activities in the book aim to pass on his passion and knowledge to the…
Henricus Peters reviews Funny bums, freaky beaks and other incredible creature features by Alex Morss & Sean Taylor, illustrated by Sarah Edmunds. Have you ever looked at an animal and wondered if someone had played some practical joke with it – it looks so strange! Certainly, the first ever account of the duck-billed platypus suggested that someone…
Sue Shanks reviews Winter Sleep: a hibernation story by Sean Taylor & Alex Morss This book is comprised of two sections focussing on the topic of hibernation. The first section is a narrative story about a boy visiting his grandmother in winter, following an earlier visit he had made in the summer. He recollects that in summer he…
We’ve covered Ronald Rovers’s views from time to time in our blog. Here is his latest contribution. He covers books he recommends and those he doesn’t. Top very readable books : ( not necessarily in that order….) The Upside of Down – Thomas Homer-Dixon Great book, making connections between problems and tensions in society (…
The Economist says that these are seven texts that explain how the climate is changing—and what to do about it. Just click on the link to see more details – including the note that the 6th book here is not a terrorist handbook. What We Know About Climate Change. By Kerry Emanuel. MIT Press; 88 pages; $15.95.…