The Sky's Not Falling!: Why It's Ok to Chill About Global Warming (Paperback)

~ Holly Fretwell (Author)
Key Phrases: The Sky's Not Falling, United States, Fun Fact (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"The Sky's Not Falling: Why It's OK To Chill About Global Warming" is for parents sick of seeing their kids indoctrinated by has-been politicians and Hollywood stars. Unlike books written by would-be celebrities without any scientific or economics background, "The Sky's Not Falling" is everything a book about the environment written for kids should be: fact-filled, apolitical, fun and optimistic about the future of our magnificent, ever-changing planet.

In "The Sky's Not Falling," author Holly Fretwell, a natural resources management expert, shows kids ages 8 and up that human ingenuity combined with an "enviropreneurial" spirit will lead us to a bright environmental future, not one where people ruin the earth.

Parents confronted by Photoshopped pictures of drowning animals and faux "documentaries" will embrace a book that educates rather than manipulates. Holly Fretwell brings real credentials to the debate, giving kids the scoop not just about global warming, but the real-world consequences of the Left's responses to it.

From the Publisher

"I'm scared that every time I ride in the car, I'm hurting polar bears and other animals."

"I'm worried that people just like me cause global warming."

"I'm afraid that my favorite outdoor places might disappear."

You've heard the claims that the earth is warming up because of cars, light bulbs, factories and the many other wonders that human ingenuity has created. But is it really true?

Well, here's news for the global warming Chicken Littles - the sky's NOT falling!

Sure, our planet is changing, but it has before and will again. There's lots more to the climate change story than you may have heard! Can we really adapt to a changing world in ways that help animals and the environment while keeping people working and countries growing strong? Of course we can!

Yes, it's OK to chill about global warming. Look inside "The Sky's NOT Falling" and find out why.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: World Ahead Publishing (September 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976726947
• ISBN-13: 978-0976726944
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #388,145 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read It First, December 8, 2007

By	J. Kaye Oldner (http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Holly Fretwell's "The Sky's Not Falling!" is a highly controversial book about global warming. Before writing this review, I decided to read some of the controversial comments here. One of the more colorful comments was:

"If you are a charter member of the 'Flat Earth Society,' or, if you just like teaching your child to bury his or her head in the sand like an ostrich, this book is for you."

I had to wonder if these people actual read the book. Did they base these comments on burbs posted on the Internet about the book? The reason I ask is no where in the book did the author suggest a stick-your-head-in-the-sand approach to this environmental issue. She acknowledges this problem and more.

This author suggests that instead of making fear-based decisions, we use education and innovation to find workable solutions. In the book she says "Many people are in a frenzy over global warming. They believe government can solve the problem if we just hand over more power and money." She disagrees. "If we're going to find a way to `solve' global warming or any other environmental problem, the answer will come from people who have enough time, energy, money, and freedom to use their creativity to solve the problem. It will not come from some governmental agency funded with lots of tax dollars."

"The Sky's Not Falling!" not only discusses environmental issues, but also covers enviropreneurship with six thought provoking exercises to assist the next generation in finding a positive approach to working on a solution. If you've never heard the term, enviropreneur is a person who finds creative or insightful ways to turn environmental problems into assets.

In the very back, there are five pages listing references. She encourages the reader to research. Knowledge is power and her belief is clear. "Human innovation and creativity have already changed the world for the better countless times...and they will again."

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For kids, December 26, 2007

By	Terplover (Annapolis, MD) - See all my reviews

A good place to begin a conversation especially if you want your child to be a thoughtful, slightly skeptical consumer. Helps them to understand that everything that is published is not necessarily true. Children need to learn to how to seek out facts, evidence and data and how to separate that out from hype, speculation, fear-mongering and marketing.

32 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Knee-jerk reviews on both sides don't address the book itself., January 3, 2008

By	Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Holly Fretwell, The Sky's Not Falling!: Why It's OK to Chill About Global Warming (Kids Ahead, 2007)

I guess it's inevitable that any time someone writes a book critical of the currently accepted wisdom on global warming, it's going to get attacked-- doubly so if that book is written for the preteen set. (After all, one has to Think of the Children(TM)!) Predictably, the usual suspects have come flying out of the woodwork to attack Holly Fretwell's book, and predictably, the tone of many of the negative reviews makes me wonder if the critics have actually read the book. Many point to "theories [actually hypotheses, but let's not quibble] that have been debunked for years", while even the quickest skim of Fretwell's rather impressive bibliography shows a surprising number of papers written in the past couple of years, for example. Unfortunately, Fretwell has released a book that's almost a catalog of things that the knee-jerk will criticize (heaven help the writer who dares to propose that the market could ever do any good!), so even before it gets off the ground, this is a book that's almost guaranteed to be doing little other than preaching to the choir; no one who's on the fence about global warming is likely to buy it for their kids, let alone anyone who's bought wholesale into the shameless fearmongering and exaggeration that's replaced wisdom and critical thinking on the subject.

Perhaps more amusing, however, are the five-star reviews that call the book "fair and balanced." It's about as fair and balanced as Fox News (and if you truly believe Fox News is fair and balanced, then perhaps you need to read Fretwell's concluding note to parents about the importance of critical thinking). But, quite like Lomborg's excellent tome The Skeptical Environmentalist, The Sky's Not Falling! was written to counter that fearmongering and exaggeration, and it's just as unfortunate as anything else about this book that Fretwell dives into exaggeration on the other side. As with Lomborg's book, the only rational conclusion to be drawn by contrasting what's here with what's crammed down our throats every day is that the truth lies somewhere in the middle, and it's up to the reader to figure out where along the line that truth may lie. Fretwell, to her credit, emphasizes critical thinking and the questioning of authority explicitly, where Lomborg never did.

I don't think that The Sky's Not Falling! can be taken at face value any more than I believe the [...] spewed by radical environmentalist groups can be taken at face value (I'm still waiting for the ozone layer to be gone-- oh, wait, it's past 1990?), but it's refreshing to see a dissenting opinion on the topic. ***