★★★★
Review: It's Up to Us: A Children's Terra Carta, For Nature, People & Planet by Chris Lloyd and Prince Charles. Purchase links below.
[Disclosure: Our young reviewer received a free copy of this book for the purposes of this review.]
Story teller Christopher Lloyd, in partnership with The Prince’s Foundation, has produced a beautiful and thoughtful picture book about the climate called, It’s Up to Us; A Children’s Terra Carta.
The book is divided into three categories; nature, people and planet. It is filled with promises that we can make to help look after our planet. I agree with all the promises set out in the book, but I was curious to see how children might put those promises into action themselves, in everyday life. I couldn't see practical examples in the book on how children could do this themselves. It might be that Chris wants us to use our imaginations to come up with new ideas.
There are QR codes near the end of the book that lead to websites with more detail. In the past 2 years, we’ve seen that digital poverty means that many children don’t have easy access to a device – so I think it’s very important to have vital sections in the physical book itself - so that we can all have the knowledge not only of what to do, but how to do it. Even if it's just as a starting point for our own ideas. I know one book can't solve all the world's problems, but I thought I should mention it.
But the best thing about this book, and the thing I loved the most, were the gorgeous and inspiring illustrations, created by artists from all over the world. The illustrations mean that the book is fantastic every time you pick it up, because you see new things each time. I only realised that the spirals at the beginning of each chapter were special the second time I read the book.
The bright, bold colours of each drawing made me happy and helped me better understand the ideas in the book. There were also lots of interesting facts that I hadn’t come across before; I found out about how carbon dioxide is stored in the earth and how ice acts as a mirror for heat.
This is a bright book about a dark subject – but I think this could be a positive Christmas present for children that encourages them to feel empowered about taking action, rather than overwhelmed.
Environmentalist Robert Swan said, in his now famous quote, The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it. I hope that this book will encourage every single one of us to act on the promises that we know we have to make to save our planet – for the people who will have to live on it after we’re gone.
Amazon Affiliate Link: £11.25. Buying the book through this link may provide a small financial benefit to the blog - to help keep it ad free. | Amazon Non-Affiliate Link: £11.25 | Blackwells £12.18 |
Prices correct at time of publication.
Young reviewer, Charlotte Trichard, has been going to the theatre regularly since she was a baby. Charlotte loves fencing and she plays the piano.
Safe guarding procedures were in place throughout the review process.
If you enjoyed reading this review, you might also enjoy the interview that our young reviewer did with Chris Lloyd about his work as a story teller. You can find it here.
