ALL The Climate/Activism Books For Kids + a Free Book Offer!
Plus, how do your holiday traditions reflect your values?
Hi friends, thanks for being here!
Climate News Roundup
I’m not sure whether to assume that if you’re reading this newsletter you’re caught up on the climate news elsewhere. Anyone who gets a chance to let me know if this is helpful or not, that would be awesome.
I do feel like I need to give a brief nod because there is a LOT of climate news right now. Bill McKibben has, as usual, a very clear summary up at The New Yorker: 1) 2023 has been the hottest year ever; 2) We’ve crossed the 1.5 degree of average warming mark on a couple of occasions already (why that’s not good); 3) Solar is getting so cheap, and going up so fast, that emissions are already falling in Europe and the US and expected to fall starting next year in China, seven years ahead of schedule.
As for COP 28, the latest installment of the giant annual international climate talks, which concluded on December 12: They were held in a petro-state, they were presided over by an oil company CEO, , they included around 2500 fossil fuel industry lobbyists among their 70,000 attendees. Despite that, there were some good things:
-A “loss and damage fund” was officially created. This is a financial vehicle by which rich countries are expected to compensate the Global South for the harm these countries have suffered through little fault of their own because of climate change. Not enough money in there yet, but the recognition of the necessity and moral obligation is huge. There were other efforts as well toward climate finance.
-The final agreement for the first time calls for a “transition away from” fossil fuels, but not a “phaseout.” Something that’s been hailed as both good news and not enough. More details here. And here.
-A 12 year old climate activist from India named Licypriya Kangujam disrupted the talks. Her courage is inspiring, yet as Emily Atkin writes in her newsletter, Heated, a little kid shouldn’t have to do this.
As a person raised in the age of the internet, I recognize a fake feel-good story when I see one. The way I see it, “Small Child Becomes Leading Voice Of Climate Movement” is a story that falls into the same trap as “Office Workers Donate Vacation Days To Pregnant Colleague So She Can Have Maternity Leave.” They are each valiant acts of altruism, and in Licy’s case, courage. But they are also acts that are only made necessary by a total systemic failure to protect children. They are not inspirational. They are horrifying.
Better holiday traditions
I’ve been thinking on the ways that our family’s holiday traditions do and don’t reflect our values. Peter Drucker, the famous management consultant, liked to say “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” That is, the meaning-making, the way that we do small and symbolic things, is far more determinative of what direction an enterprise or a family is going in, than whatever we profess or is written on a piece of paper.
When I think about holiday traditions, I feel lucky that as a Jewish family we can kinda opt out of the overwhelming consumerism of Christmas. Our kids don’t make wish lists, for example. And we can sniff the Christmas trees that line NYC sidewalks without having to buy one.
But, we still do end up buying and exchanging piles of presents when all is said and done. I look for greener ways to do this. I’ve often sent my parents and mother in law flower bulbs, and I got Adam a mushroom growing kit this year.
I’d like for us to find more ways to give back during this season as a family. Usually in December Adam and I sit down and finalize our charitable giving for the year, and the kids weigh in. This year my big kid has to decide what charity she wants to distribute a portion of the money that she’ll be gifted from her upcoming B’mitzvah, so we’re having discussions about that.
If you have a holiday service/volunteering tradition, I’d love to hear about it.
Not holiday related, but it did take place in December: Last week was the first Climate Action Day in New York City public schools. At my school we organized a letter writing activity during Bike To School Day as part of Climate Families NYC. I’ll be spending the rest of the year volunteering with them to push to decarbonize NYC public schools, with lots of chances for my kids to get involved.
Bonus idea: A friend of mine who is pretty eco-conscious has a great holiday tradition of gathering a group to walk through the city and look at the pretty lights. Everyone brings their own flask or reusable mug for drinks, and presto— a free, outdoor, move-your-body, human-powered holiday activity.
Golden Hour GIFT LIST
A friend and reader writes:
I have a 10 year old and a 13 year old niece on my partner’s side with anti-vax Trump supporter parents. I'm trying to give gifts that are resources on… environmental awareness, critical thinking and other perspectives on history, feminism, etc.
Any favorite gifts, books, resources to gift to preteens in that age group?
So I did some searching, and asked my friends and followers, and here’s what I got. Special thanks to young climate activist Iris Zhan for their input.
Kids
Something Happened To Our Planet- written as a conversation starter, discusses climate change and activism
Books about real-life climate heroes: Rebel Girls Climate Warriors: 25 Tales of Women Who Protect the Earth - ; Girl Warriors: How 25 Young Activists Are Saving the Earth ; and Stone Soup For A Sustainable World
We Are Palestinian: A Celebration Of Culture and Tradition by my friend Reem Kassis. And check out this book based on real-life interviews with both Israeli and Palestinian kids. And a full list of kids’ books about Palestine.
Hit lists: Here’s 10 more picture books about climate change .And Here’s 14 more . And Check out the Blueberry Awards—awarded to kids’ books that “inspire a love of nature & action for planet Earth”.
Free “climate optimism” books for educators monthly!
Tweens/Teens
Here’s a list of books and podcasts that span from little to older ages.
American Girl: Love The Earth is a book with both info and activities—quizzes, crafts, party ideas, and a sciencce experiment — good for 8-12 year olds.
Go With The Flow -My family really loved this book, about a group of high school friends who band together to get more menstrual products in the girls’ bathroom. It’s about friendship, female empowerment, and activism, and as a bonus for kids who are pre-puberty, it demystifies some of those topics as well.
All The Feelings Under The Sun : How To Deal With Climate Change A great, accessible and beautifully designed book / workbook on climate emotions good for tweens and teens.
Teens
The Intersectional Environmentalist - So many young people are approaching climate change through the lens of justice; this book does just that.
Into the Streets: A Young Person's Visual History of Protest in the United States - my feeling is that our education system really skimps in telling the story of social movements, so this looks like a great corrective.
Lies My Teacher Told Me - My American History AP teacher assigned this book alongside our textbook, and it was amazing and radicalizing. It’s a brief, entertaining capsule history of the United States told through the flaws in our history books, with a frame that teenagers will love because it’s all about what the people in power don’t want you to know.
IT'S NOT THAT RADICAL: Climate Action To Transform Our World - a new guide to climate justice and action by a 25 year old activist, this has rave reviews
Bonus: Kids’ Clothes That Support Good Causes And Are Cute
Climate Action Before Monkeys Go To Mars
For picture books, I would also recommend Pedal Power: How One Community Became the Bicycle Capital of the World because it's how activists in Amsterdam used civil disobedience to make it drastically safer for bicyclists, My Wounded Island for how it gives a view from a child personally affected by climate change, and The Tantrum that Saved the World for showing how kids can work in solidarity with people all over the world. For teenager-level books, We Rise: The Earth Guardians Guide to Building a Movement that Restores the Planet is a powerful book that's part autobiography, part activist advice book by the first young person to address the U.N. on climate change, Indigeneous activist, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez.