Customer Reviews

The Adventures of an Aluminum Can: A Story About Recycling (Little Green Books)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read The Adventures of Aluminum Can to a 5 year old boy. He was clearly uninterested. I loaned the book to two 8 year olds to read and they said it was a little dull.

Personally, I found the illustrations to be well done. The story, however, was a little troubling. You have a piece of animated aluminum, the main character...with no name. The author wants the reader to connect with the aluminum on a personal level, but that is hard to do since it doesn't even have a name.

The aluminum has made some diary entries (somehow) and this is how we follow his tale. Once extracted from the earth he eventually becomes a sheet of aluminum and then made into a fruit can. A girl (with no name) eats the fruit and then uses the can as a trophy for her baseball. He is so happy being a part of this little girl's life. Turn the page, and he is now in the back of an old truck headed to a sorting plant and then to a recycling plant. There, he is "shredded...melted."

He is made into another item. I don't want to spoil the ending, but let's just say that he is happy still. He is taken-in by another child where he hopes he "...don't get recycled for a long time."

What is the message this book is trying to convey?

I've been giving this book rave reviews to all of my friends and family with young children. The pictures are bright and guaranteed grab the attention of youngsters, while teaching the importance of and the steps taken in recycling aluminum, using terms that are not difficult for children to understand. Every household with young children should have a copy of this book!

Being about recycling and being made frm 100% recycled paper makes this quite the "Green" book. I actually learned something from the book, which I wasn't expecting. I didn't not know aluminum was made from bauxite rock or the process and chemicals required to make it what it is. It would be great book to use in a lesson on Earth Day. The illustrator did a great job on the fun, colorful picutres.

Do you know those books that get passed out at field trips? The coloring books on healthy vegetables that grocery stores give out? Or the ones of how money gets made that banks used to hand out? That's how this feels -- small, unorginal, and very low budget. The subject may be important, but the book is dull.

I love that this is not just a fact-driven book, but an actual story of the process of creating an aluminum can. It a great "green" read for young children.

Here is a timely story about recycling told from the point of view of an aluminum can. I am all for engaging stories that help promote green thinking and encourage children to become aware of their carbon footprint. I think the artful use of perspective is a good eye-opener for children. This a great opportunity to combine literacy and ecology to practice skills and absorb an important message. Light, fun, entertaining, and educational.

My 7 year really enjoys this book. The story is about a spec of alumina that gets turned into a can. It shows the process of digging it up all the way to refining and molding. Then onto the grocery store. Then it shows how, if you recycle, your can can turn into something totally different.

It's a good book for children and they learn something too!

Follow along the story of a speck of alumina that is mined, refined into aluminum oxide, processed into a sheet of aluminum, and then manufactured into an aluminum can. The can's adventure does not end here though, since its contents are eaten and the can is recycled. After an extensive cleaning and re-fabricating process, that speck of alumina becomes part of an aluminum baseball bat ready for use in the championship game.

Straightforward text and amusing illustrations help to keep the attention spans of young readers as they learn about going green and the recycling process. Parents and teachers can also introduce the concepts of natural and capital resources as they talk about what it takes to produce and recycle an aluminum can.

GREAT idea and concept, but not exactly "fun" reading for two little boys. The pictures were great, but somehow the story line just didn't capture my boys attention long enough for them to sit and listen (which is unfortunate given that this book is about recycling).

Colorful and well drawn, featuring interesting characters who pop up in a book about the basics of recycling. Printed on 100% recycled paper, no less. I think it's a little over the heads of the recommended 4 and 5 year olds, but visually it should keep their interest. I would say it's more suited for 6-8 year-olds. It's a topic that I am not sure most people will got out and seek, but if you come across it at a library or bookstore, it's a good cheap read for kids that teaches them a little something about preserving the environment.