Customer Reviews

Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai (Frances Foster Books)

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Nivola, Claire A. Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2008.

This beautiful story of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya launched by Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai details how she grew up appreciating nature and its bounty, attended college in America and studied biology, and then returned to her homeland only to find that new farming practices threatened the health and well-being of her fellow citizens. Although, the people were understandably inclined to blame the government for their deteriorating situation, Wangari encouraged the women to instead plant trees: to gather seeds, dig for water, and nurture seedlings. "All this was heavy work, but the women felt proud. Slowly, all around them, they could begin to see the fruit of the work of their hands. The woods were growing up again." Wangari "taught the children how to make their own nurseries. She gave seedling to inmates of prisons and even to soldiers." Since Wangari began in 1977, over "thirty million trees have been planted in Kenya" - an impressive feat. Lovely watercolor paintings illustrate this simple inspiring story: village scenes show women and children listening to Wangari explain her proposal, and an awesome double-spread shows a line of people marching in an endless line, carrying seedlings and tools for planting. This wonderful picture book evocatively spreads an important environmental message

"The farms of Ohio had been replaced by shopping malls And muzak filled the air from Seneca to Cuyahoga Falls." -- The Pretenders, "My City was Gone"

"As Wangari Maathai tells it, when she was growing up on a farm in the hills of central Kenya, the earth was clothed in its dress of green.

"Fig trees, olive trees, crotons, and flame trees covered the land, and fish filled the pure waters of the streams.

"The fig tree was sacred then, and Wangari knew not to disturb it, not even to carry its fallen branches home for firewood. In the stream near her homestead where she went to collect water for her mother, she played with glistening frogs' eggs, trying to gather them like beads into necklaces, though they slipped through her fingers back into clear water."

But in the early 1960s Wangari Maathai left Kenya for five years in order to attend college in Kansas. It was during that time that Kenya gained independence from Britain. And in the manner with which Claire Nivola tells and illustrates the story, Wangari's return to Kenya reminds me of the old Pretenders' song. For there had been numerous and radical changes in the landscape of Kenya during Wangari's absence:

"Wangari found the fig tree cut down, the little stream dried up, and no traces of frogs, tadpoles, or the silvery beads of eggs...Wangari noticed that the people no longer grew what they ate but bought food from stores. The store food was expensive, and the little they could afford was not as good for them as what they had grown themselves, so that children, even grownups, were weaker and often sickly."

Meanwhile, the cutting of the remaining forests for wood to burn as fuel led to widespread erosion and the degradation of streams and rivers.

And so it was that Wangari Maathai came up with her "simple and big idea" of getting tens, then hundreds, then thousands of Kenyans to grow and plant trees. Her idea evolved into the Greenbelt Movement and, in the long run, led to her winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

Claire Nivola's watercolor paintings climax with a two page spread in which an endless stream of Kenyans carrying seedlings are seen traversing the mountains to a hillside where the forest is being restored meter by meter.

The story is followed by an extensive Author's Note which includes information about Wangari putting her body on the line in recent years to fight ill-conceived government schemes.

At a time when I am so often distraught due to the seemingly inevitable deterioration of the planet I am leaving my children, it is inspiring to read a book that so well illustrates how one person's singular vision, determination, and leadership can radically (and literally) transform the landscape.

As a child growing up on a farm in Kenya's Central Highlands, Wangari Maathai delighted in the beauty of the fig, olive, and flame trees that graced the landscape, and she valued the clear water of the stream that flowed near her home. Sadly, these conditions changed for the worse in just a very short time while Wangari attended college in the United States. Distressed to return home to deforestation, soil erosion, dirty water, and a worsening in people's well-being, Wangari resolved to become a part of the solution. Her simple but powerful idea to start planting trees grew into a national movement that ultimately led to over forty million new trees planted in Kenya. Wangari's activist efforts included educating women, men, and children about why it was so important to their livelihood to plant tree seedlings. In 2004 she won the Nobel Peace Prize, the first African woman to receive this honor.

Children and adults alike will appreciate this book for its powerful message, rich illustrations, and informative author's note. Numerous economics ideas are woven into the text, with particular emphasis on the consequences of scarcity, the replenishment of natural resources, and the strengthening of women's autonomy. Despite the weighty topic, the tone is gentle. Children will unwittingly gain an important lesson in environmental activism while they enjoy an interesting story.

This is one of the most wonderful picture books this year. It reminds us that we are all capable of recognizing problems and making significant positive changes by taking individual action, and it tells the story of an incredible, real life African role model. The artwork is detailed and captivating.

I've given this book as a gift to three children so far this year and plan to keep gifting it!

Planting the trees of Kenya is a keeper for all teachers k-12. every year we can remind our studnets of their value in this world by reading this book. science teachers could really take off in this book getting students to realize not only their part in a "global" world but what they can imagine for their small part of it. reading, social studies, world studies, economics classes could utilize this book all the way through high school. resources are listed. young girls and young women can see that there are unlimited callings and that they can make a difference, but this book is not just for girls it is a story that can inspire both young men and women. when i read this to my 7th graders one student asked, "How she do that?" good start for an essay or reseach paper, don't you think?????

acott

west virginia

In teaching my children to be good citizens of the earth I seek out books to help me instill these values. This is a book I will treasure always, and I know my children will too. It is an amazing story of a woman who has an idea and the belief that she can change her small part of the world after many years have changed the village she once knew. Not only is this a great book from that perspective, but it encourages the principles of environmental stewardship. Plant a tree! We can change the world!

This is a wonderful children's book for any school or public library, or to give to your child. Unlike some other popular books with an African motif, I've only seen this book in one school library. It teaches a valuable lesson on problem solving, on how one person can make a difference, on how a African female can rise above inadequacy to significantly contribute to society. This is a fine book for character education, for a book report, for Africans in the United States and for African American children. Since 1977 thirty million trees have been planted in Kenya, according to Planting the Trees of Kenya.

This is an inspiring and educational book that is especially appropriate for young children (mine are now 4 and 7), but also very appealing to adult readers. The book offers a very simple and easy-to-follow biographical sketch of Wangari Maathai, but it focuses mainly on her founding of and her impressive work with the Green Belt Movement, whose members have done far more than plant millions upon millions of trees in Kenya. The author does a beautiful job of conveying, through language and imagery that children will easily grasp, this admirable organization's principal aims: "advocating for human rights and supporting good governance and peaceful democratic change through the protection of the environment . . . and empower[ing] communities worldwide to protect the environment and to promote good governance and cultures of peace." This world needs many more books like Planting the Trees of Kenya. The watercolor illustrations are exceptional not just for their aesthetic beauty, but also for their effective communication of the story's most important themes and motifs. I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages!

If you're looking for a book that shows how even the simplest act can change the world, then look no further. Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai is a beautifully illustrated book that does just that. It tells the story of Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.

The book begins with Maathai remembering the Kenya of her childhood, a verdant land filled with olive, fig and flame trees.

As a young adult, Wangari left Kenya to study biology in the United States for five years. Upon her return, she was dismayed to find that people had adapted new farming techniques and cut down the trees she remembered and loved from her childhood. The deforestation of the land caused the soil to erode and streams to dry up. She noticed that the Kenyans no longer grew their own food in family gardens. Instead they bought food in supermarkets, which was more expensive and less nutritious.

Wangari realized that the problems she saw all around her stemmed from the trees they were cutting down. Her solution was simple: Plant more trees. She went to the women in the villages and showed them how to collect the seeds from the remaining trees and prepare the soil. She taught them how to tend to the seedlings until they grew strong. As the idea caught on, the women saw the difference in the landscape. The woods were growing again, small farms were flourishing and their families were healthier. Wangari continued to spread the word throughout Kenya by going to schools, and even prisons, with the seedlings.

Planting the Trees of Kenya will make children feel like they can make a difference in the world. The watercolor illustrations are brilliant and invite you to linger a while on each page. The seemingly simple idea of planting trees grew into a national movement, resulting in thirty million trees planted in the last thirty years. Wangari's story will inspire you and your children. They will see how taking small steps towards resolving something that is wrong, can lead to big changes.

While the art is beautiful, the text is unbalanced to the page count, my 2 year old son does not have the patience to sit through that much text on each page. Especially since the text is not very descriptive. This is probably the case of our getting a book above his age level. A word of warning, the story could disagree with the logical or political sensibilities of some readers.