- Jan 6, 2025
Updated: Jan 11, 2025
A Portrait of Photographer
Sebastião Salgado
A TRUE TALE WITH A CHERRY ON TOP
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
(Simon & Schuster)
(pub. 3.5.2024)
48 pages
Ages 6 - 9
Author: Philip Hoelzel
Illustrator: Renato Alarcão
Character: Sebastião Salgado
Overview:
" As a young boy, Sebastião Salgado loved exploring his parents’ farm in the forests of Brazil, always dreaming of what might lie beyond his view. When he went away to school, he met Lélia, who showed him how to use a camera. As he looked through the lens, Sebastião realized he could use photography to capture how the world fits together.
Sebastião used his pictures to tell the stories of people who might not otherwise be seen. But after witnessing too much destruction, he put away his camera and returned to his childhood home. The land was in ruins.
So Sebastião and Lélia decided to rebuild the rainforest and photograph the beauty of the world to save it. Through art and activism, they would show that everyone was responsible for caring for the planet and that hope endures if we take action."
Tantalizing taste:
"But when Sebastião and Lélia arrived [back at his childhood farm in Brazil], the land was in ruins.
Brazilwood, ironwood, and peroba trees that held water in the soil and provided shade on hot, sunny days had been cut down for lumber. The soft forest soils were wearing away. The ocelots, anteaters, and colorful birds were gone...
Lélia cried to see the sickness of the land.
Sebastião wept over the destruction of his childhood paradise.
Then Lelia thought of something that gave her hope...'Let's rebuild your beautiful world. Let's plant the rainforest that was here before'."
And something more: The section, Instituto Terra - The Environmental Education Center in Aimorés, Brazil explains: "When Sebastião and Lélia created Instituto Terra, their first project was to replant about seven hundred soccer fields' worth of native trees on Sebastião's boyhood farm... Today they have grown more than four million seedlings. Many of these seedlings have been used on projects that have helped save seventeen thousand acres of land (approximately eleven thousand soccer fields) in the Rio Doce river valley near Sebastião's boyhood home."
- Dec 29, 2024
Frederick Banting and
the Discovery of Insulin
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Clarion Books
(Harper Collins)
(pub. 10.29.2024)
48 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Lisa Katzenberger
Illustrator: Janina Gaudin
(aka Miss Diabetes)
Character: Frederick Bunting
Overview:
" Frederick Banting was a shy boy who loved to care for the animals on his family farm. When they were sick, he searched for ways to make them better.
When Frederick grew up, he remained curious about how to treat and cure illnesses, so he became a doctor and a teacher. After teaching his medical students about diabetes, his curiosity led him to discover insulin, which saves millions of lives worldwide today. Frederick could have gotten rich from his discovery, but he sold his formula for only a dollar, saying, 'Insulin does not belong to me. It belongs to the world.'"
Tantalizing taste:
"However, the results were not consistent. Sometimes the medicine was too strong, sometimes it was too weak.
Yet Frederick pushed on.
He hired chemist James Collier to help clean the pancreatic extract. Over and over, day afte day, they performed their experiments. Analyzing and testing, testing and analyzing."
And something more: Lisa Katzenberger in the Author's Note explains: "My family has a special connection to Dr Banting. My son Ryan was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was seven years old...While Ryan's chronic illness will be with him all his life, he can do anythnikg other kids can do... While there is currently no cure for diabetes, we hope that Ryan will see one in his lifetime. In the meantime, our family is very grateful to Dr. Frederick Banting and his team for the discovery of insulin."
- Dec 24, 2024
Junko Tabei
A Life in the Mountains
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Clarion Books
(Harper Collins Publishers)
(pub. 9.24.2024)
48 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Anita Yasuda
Illustrator: Yuko Shimizu
Character: Junko Tabei
Overview:
" Junko Tabei dreamed of a life climbing mountains. But men refused to climb with her. Sponsors told her to stay home. And gloves were not made to fit her hands. Junko, eager and unstoppable, wouldn’t let these obstacles get in her way.
Instead, she planned an expedition to summit Mount Everest with an all-women team. Battling icy peaks, deep crevasses, and even an avalanche, Junko refused to give up. She climbed step by step . . . up, up, ever up!
After summiting the world’s tallest peak, Junko took on a new challenge: protecting the wild spaces she loved for future generations."
Tantalizing taste:
"Junko stood on Everest's summit, where earth met sky:
silvery domes
and icy peaks
unfurled as far as she could see.
On a snowy patch, no larger than a tatami mat, she gazed upon a landscape untouched by people. Just two small climbers in a cloud of white."
And something more: Anita Yasuda, in the Author's Note, explains that "Concerned about the impact of climbing on the environment, Junko campaigned for sustainable mountaineering... Junko also organized an annual Mount Fuji hike for high school students [from the Fukushima region], teaching them the importance of conservation and rebuilding their love of nature.
In 2016, three months after hiking with students on the annual Mount Fuji hike, Junko passed away. It was her last climb. But Junko's commitment to mountain environments lives on... Junko's remarkable life inspires others to pursue their dreams, step-by-step, up, up, and ever up."
I'm quite touched by this book, so beautifully written and illustrated. I recently travelled to Japan for the first time and was enthralled when I saw the snow-topped Mt. Fuji, just as I always envisioned it. And now my appreciation of Mt. Fuji and Japanese culture is enhanced by knowing this inspiring story of Junko Tabei and her perseverance and dedication to protecting mountains and helping others value the beauty of nature.
