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Seeds of Change Book Giveaway Winner!
Thank you to everyone for the insightful comments on my interview with author Jen Cullerton Johnson. Thank you, Jen, for your generous donation of a signed copy of your award-winning picture book, Seeds of Change. And congratulations to Michelle, the randomly chosen recipient of that book. Michelle had this to say in her comment:
"What a wonderful interview. Seeds of Change sounds like a fabulous book on many levels. "Green reads" are new to me and I love the concept. It is one thing to talk to my daughters about the environment, inspiring people, and great ideas, but having resources such as a book like Seeds of Change can make those messages so much more powerful. Thanks for bringing such beautiful art into the world!"
Now Michelle will have the inspiring story of Wanagari Maathai right at her fingertips to share with her daughters! More author interviews and book giveaways to come!
 Book Giveaway and Green Guest of the Month: Jen Cullerton Johnson, Planting the Seeds of Change Recently, I had the honor to interview Chicago-area author, educator, and environmentalist, Jen Cullerton Johnson. Jen’s debut picture book biography, Seeds Of Change: Planting the Path to Peace, brings to life the story of Wangari Maathai, the first African woman and environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize.**At the end of this interview read how to enter to win a signed copy of Jen's new book. ** What inspired you to write “Seeds of Change?”
The life of Wangari Maathai inspires me. It still blows me away. I admire how she took two very important issues-- women's rights and the environment-- and found a solution through the Green Belts, a movement of women environmentalist who planted 30 millions trees in Kenya. Today there are so many challenges to issues that sometimes we become overwhelmed and we give up. With Wangari, she really looked toward her community of young mothers to join in and help her. Wangari's story tells that although one person may have an idea, it is a community that bring the idea to fruition. “Seeds of Change” recently won the 2011 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award for the illustrations by Sonia Lynn Sadler. How do you feel about this honor? Sonia Lynn Sadler is a wonderful illustrator. Her work is bold and dramatic, engaging and hopeful. Every time I have a school visit or do a book reading, I always stop on the second to last page. Sonia Lynn Sanders placed important figures like Martin Luther King Jr and Barrack Obama coming out of Wangari's hand. This April, I will see some of Sonia's art up close when I attend the Newton Marasco Foundation that recently gave Seeds of Change an Honor. You weave wonderful tree imagery into your story of Wangari Maathai- “Her mind was like a tree woven in rich soil, ready to grow.” “Like a sturdy tree against a mighty wind, her faith kept her strong.” I sense you have a strong connection to trees yourself. Do you have a favorite tree? What role do trees play in your life? I think this is the loveliest question ever asked of me. Yes, I do have a favorite tree. I grew up in a very small town called Dune Acres. It is on the shores of Lake Michigan. The name of my street is Linden Lane. Linden trees are wonderful trees. They blossom with fruits and flowers which attract bees and chipmonks, mice, squirrels. Rabbits and voles eat the bark. I also like them for their leaves and sturdy trunk. I love them as I love all the trees around Lake Michigan like the Oak, Pine, Birch, and the Maple. You’ve said that you admire Wangari Maathai because she is a “real life person doing something for the environment.” How has writing her story inspired you do things in your own life to help the environment? Yeah. In a lot of ways I feel like I am an accidental environmentalist. Since I wrote the book and now do a lot of speaking on the connection between picture books and nature, I have adapted to new ideas like starting where I am at and reducing what I buy. A couple years ago, my son started a recycling program in our house. We have added a compost. Little by little we are moving in the right direction. You’re a big advocate of “green literacy.” Can you explain what this is and what you are doing to support it? Green Literacy is very similar to eco-literacy. Eco-literacy is a term coined by Michael K. Stone and it means there are certain bodies of knowledge a person must know in order to function as a eco-literate person. Green Literacy takes into account eco-literacy but it uses literacy based techniques to talk about environmental issues. In other words, Green Literacy uses elements of story to spark conversations about the environment. Often times people want to make changes without changing their minds. Green Literacy allows students the opportunity to reflect, consider and dialogue through the use of literature so that when they do act, their action has meaning and is empowering. What are some of your favorite “green reads?”Well from the looks of your blog, I admire our local writers like Tim Magner and Pamela Todd. Both have wonderful books. I am re-reading Rachel Carson. Amazing women. I have a list of 100 + green reads if any reader would like it, please email me and I will be more than happy to send it. Waangari Maathai said “protecting the environment is not just a pleasure, but also a duty.” How do you spread this message to your readers and students?
For me it is very important that students have the opportunity to think, consider and reflect on their environment before they take actions. Too many times people jump at change and the change is not long lasting. Once a child understands, action is meaningful and change is effective. Learn more about Seeds Of Change and Jen's efforts to spread green literacy at her website: http://www.jencullertonjohnson.com/Or better yet, learn from Jen in person! Jen will be teaching a Nature Writing Workshop at the Chicago Newberry Library, February 19-April 16th, 2011. (Sign up by February 12th.) More information at:
https://go.newberry.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=529Enter to win an autographed copy of Seeds of Change by following these contest rules:
1. You must post a comment to today's blog post telling why you'd like to win a copy of Seeds of Change. Please mention if you are a teacher. Teacher's will be entered in an additional drawing to win a free SKYPE author's visit from Jen Cullerton Johnson AND a signed classroom copy of her book. 2. You must include contact information in your comment. If you are not a blogger, or your email address is not accessible from your online profile, you must provide a valid email address in your comment. If I don't have your email address, I won't be able to contact you. Note: THE LITTLE GREEN PEN cannot prevent spammers from accessing email addresses posted within comments, so please disguise your address by spelling out portions, such as the [at] and [dot]. 3. You must post your comment by 11 pm (CST) Tuesdau, February 22, 2011. (The winner will be chosen at randon and announced on Wednesday, February 23th.) Note: Winners automatically grant me permission to post their names on the LITTLE GREEN PEN website. 4. You must have a mailing address in the United States.
 Green Guest of the Month: Suzanne Slade, Making a Difference with Environmentally-Conscious Children’s Books
Chicago-area author Suzanne Slade has written over 80 books for children, many with nature and environmental themes. Her recent picture book, What’s the Difference? An Endangered Animal Subtraction Story, combines environmental awareness with math practice. I recently had the privilege of talking with Suzanne about What’s the Difference? and some of her upcoming nature-themed books.
 Suzanne, What was your inspiration for creating “What’s the Difference?”
I've always been a big animal lover, and have been concerned about endangered animals for years, but after I finished an earlier book, What Can We Do About Endangered Animals, I was inspired to write What's the Difference? This 2010 picture book (published by Sylvan Dell, illustrated by Joan Waites) shows twelve gorgeous endangered animals in their natural habitats, and shares important information about how people are making a big difference by helping them. This book contains a wealth of information about endangered animals. What was the research process like? What challenges did you encounter?
One of the biggest challenges I faced with this book was obtaining current information about the status of each animal, and how people can best help them. To make sure my facts were up-to-date and correct, I contacted several experts on various animals at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The illustrator's sketches were also reviewed by wildlife experts. What do you hope What’s the Difference? will impart to its readers?
My goal is that children will gain a fuller understanding of how animals become threatened and endangered, and also realize that they can make a difference. For example, this book shares how one beautiful endangered butterfly, the Karner blue, was helped by children who planted wild lupine (a lovely purple flowering plant that Karner blues need to survive). What can your readers look forward to next? Any new nature books in the works?
I'm very excited about my next book coming out with Sylvan Dell in fall, 2011 titled Multiply on the Fly. This multiplication book features all kinds of cool insects (did I mention I like bugs?) It is currently being illustrated by Erin Hunter, an amazing California artist who specializes in entomological and botanical illustrations (in other words, she draws great creatures and plants!) Thanks, Suzanne for providing such wonderful eco-conscious books for young readers!
To learn more about Suzanne and her books, visit: http://www.suzanneslade.com/
If you’d like to find out about her virtual author visits, check out her Skype-an-Author page: span > http://skypeanauthor.wetpaint.com/page/Suzanne+Slade
 Furoshiki: The Gift Wrap that Keeps on Giving Every fall my children’s school sells wrapping paper as a fundraiser. In past years I’d buy yards and yards of dancing reindeer, glittery snowflakes, and other festive patterns, complete with matching ribbons, bows, and name tags. When the holidays arrived, I loved placing perfectly coordinated and accessorized packages beneath my tree. My conscious always nagged me a bit Christmas morning, after the flurry of opening, when I collected the remains of my gift-wrapping handiwork. I hated adding mounds of cardboard, crumpled paper, and curly ribbon to my garbage can and recycling bins. Still, creating beautiful Christmas packages was a holiday tradition. It was only once a year, I told myself. To make myself feel a bit greener, I started buying gift wrap made from recycled paper. But the post-Christmas paper carnage still tugged at my environmental sensibilities. Then last Christmas, my sister-in-law gave me a gift wrapped in a beautiful silk scarf tied in a clever knot. “It’s furoshiki,” she explained, “a traditional Japanese wrapping cloth.” In Japan, people use furoshiki to package and transport everything from lunches to birthday presents. Similar to origami, the cloths can be folded several different ways to produce a variety of looks. No throwing out shredded scrapes once the party is over. Furoshiki can be used over and over. Simple. Elegant. Environmental. My present-wrapping problems were solved. This year, I did not buy a single inch of wrapping paper. (I’ll find another way to support my children’s school.) Instead, I’ve purchased some festive fabrics and I’m practicing my knots. When my family unwraps their gifts Christmas morning, no need for that extra garbage bin. In fact, if every family wrapped just three gifts this way, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields. (Sierra Club) Try using furoshiki yourself this holdiay season; it's the gift wrap that keeps on giving.
 Green Guest of the Month: Tim Magner, Growing Green Minds at Green Sugar Press.
Last week I caught up with Tim Magner, creator of Green Sugar Press, a Chicago-based publisher of eco-conscious children’s books. This week Tim shares some ideas on how schools and parents can help children “grow green minds.”
1.) In addition to offering engaging eco-themed books, how else does Green Sugar Press spread its environmental message to the community?
The Chicago-area is fantastic. There are thousands of organizations working to do good things for kids. Everyday there are groups meeting and functions happening. Things are getting done. I’m only one tiny piece.
At the same time, environmental education, or as I call it “inspiring kids to understand where they live, who lives with them and how the world works”, is still at the fringe. If you’re not in a well-to-do school, teachers are squeezed for time, focusing on test prep. And in the affluent communities, with enrichment activities galore, kids face mounting pressures to do “well.” This means tests and extra-curricular activities so they can get into the “best schools.” Too often, rote memorization is rewarded at the expense of digging deep and learning critical thinking.
2.) So how should schools approach environmental education?
I don’t blame individual teachers and schools for the movement to a factory model of school. Politicians who pass laws like “No Child Left Behind” and “Race to the Top” mean well. They think business leaders want kids that can read and write and do math. That’s true, but, more importantly, businesses need graduates that know what it means to remain creative, work on a team and problem solve. What politicians don’t understand is schools are not producing cars. Each child is different. And that’s what we want, and need. Too often, restless and curious kids are penalized.
A lot of schools do a little recycling or have a school garden, but, too often, even early teens at these schools can’t explain why they recycle or what impact it makes. I’m not against celebrating Earth Day, but why not consider the whole child? We know kids benefit from immersion in nature nearby. We know kids learn better with hands-on learning that’s relevant to their world. So, why not weave in reading, writing, math, science, history, PE and the arts using the surrounding environment?
This means no more cookie-cutter Amazon rainforest lessons to 2nd graders. This does mean teaching creatively, leaving the confines of the four walls of the classroom. This means connecting with the community you’re in. Invite local community members to visit your class. Bring in the town engineer. Yes, students have to learn state standards, but there are no laws which say how to teach them.
3.) You’ve said that the best way to encourage kids to care about nature is for them to “get outside and get dirty.” What are some suggestions you have for parents and teachers to help kids connect with nature?
It totally depends on the age of the children. For a two-year-old, an army of ants roaming around with a scrap of food twelve-feet from the back door may be their Serengeti. For a couple of seven-year-olds, the equivalent might be exploring a new park you bike to a mile from home. For a twelve-year-old, it may be their first overnight camping trip, sleeping under the stars.
The benefits of being outside, preferably with some unstructured, child-driven activity, are substantial. And this goes adults also. While I didn’t know Rich Louv two years ago, I reached out to him and he offered suggestions to me on our book, “An Environmental Guide from A to Z.” I mention Louv because of his idea of the Family Nature Clubs. It helps overcome a bunch of the obstacles associated with spending time in nature. A free downloadable PDF guide is available at their children and nature network site. www.childernandnature.org
4.) When you’re not busy as a writer, editor, and environmental educator, what are your favorite ways to “get outside and get dirty?”
I love great tasting food, so have spent some time at local community gardens and rediscovered how great it is to pull weeds. It sounds silly, but there is something to getting your hands dirty- even if you’re an adult. No, it’s not something I need to do for twelve hours a day . What’s crazy is how easy it is to not get outside ourselves, but how much better we feel even with a little time in our semi-wild region! That being said, even when I get out for a run, I have to remind myself to forget the day-to-day grind stuff and to pay attention to what’s around me. When I’m lucky enough to be with kids outside, however, its’ far easier to stay in the present and take everything in. Check out Green Sugar Press’s great books on nature and the environment at:
http://www.greensugarpress.com/
Then go outside and get dirty!
 Green Guest of the Month: Tim Magner, Growing Green Minds at Green Sugar Press
Environmental educator and writer Tim Magner knows everything in nature is connected. To help kids discover these amazing connections, Tim created Green Sugar Press, an independent, Chicago-based publishing company committed to producing quality, eco-conscious children’s books. I recently chatted with Tim to learn more about this green company and its mission to hooks kids on nature.
What inspired you to start Green Sugar Press?
If, after a few years of doing something, I stop learning, it’s time to move on. About ten years ago, I was stuck in the rat race, working to make money. Luckily, I was in a position to be able to transition towards something that made more sense- to follow a passion and fill a need.
That, and I like being with kids. They are more fun than adults, and are great learners. I’ve never met a six-year-olds that isn’t curious. The trick is to keep them that way ‘til they’re sixteen and twenty-six and help develop their creativity.
What are some of the challenges Green Sugar Press has faced as a small start-up publishing company?
Too often, we describe work as the opposite of play, but if you can model work like play, it’s fun and it breeds success. By that I mean, watch toddlers play. As they try to climb onto things and move things, they are exploring and being creative. Through trial and error, and failing along the way, they are also solving problems. As long as we keep some of that type of work in our work, it’s never becomes work as we normally associate it. Does that make sense?
Apply that to publishing: we’re in a perfect storm. The existing structure works poorly and the business is changing. Why should a children’s picture book sell for $16-$20 with the author taking home 5%? And, yet, more often than not, the publisher puts up a great deal of capital and still loses money? Distribution and marketing look different today than they did ten years ago, and, in five years, they’ll be vastly different than today. Fewer hard cover picture books are being sold, and the e-book, in all its forms, is adding to the landscape. Hard covers aren’t going away, but there’s a chance a decade from now more kids will be reading more than today. The publisher’s challenge is how to better engage the reader and add to the experience.
The slogan of Green Sugar Press is “growing green minds.” What does it mean?
It’s about getting kids outside and giving them opportunities to be kids- to wonder, to wander, to explore and to investigate. It means kids learning about connections, first-hand.
I want kids to grow up smarter than us, so, as they mature and learn critical thinking skills, they become systems thinkers, understanding you can’t have a conversation about the local watershed, for example, unless you talk about a lot of different factors, including farming, transportation, public policy and who influences it.
Not all kids are going to grow up to become activists or conservationists, but all kids ought to have a chance to play outdoors, to bond with the natural world and to become ecologically literate.
   Currently Green Sugar Press has three titles on its list: “N is for Nature”, “An Environmental Guide from A to Z”, and “Earl the Earthworm Digs for His Life.” Any new projects in the works?Plans on seeking new talent?
Yes, everyone likes new projects. I’m in a much better position than eighteen months ago and have a few things cooking. Unfortunately, I seem to have issues with focus and following through. I’d like to expand our influence and am conducting due diligence on starting a 501c3. The focus is largely the same, but we’d be more innovative- both on content and distribution. For example, we’d like to inspire youth to create work and then use the online community to be the judges. And we’ll focus on reaching the underserved communities, for example selling books at, say $1.00 each, and then giving the proceeds for development, perhaps to start a community learning garden. At the end of the day, I’m only as smart as the average bear. I need creative people to help me. Thanks, Tim, for giving us a glimpse at the exciting, green-minding thinking of Green Sugar Press. Check back next week for part two of this interview and learn how Green Sugar Press connects with schools and the community to spread its environmental message.
In the mean time, learn more about Tim Magner and Green Sugar Press at: http://www.greensugarpress.com/
 Eat Green...Tomatoes, That Is
If you planted a garden this year, then, like me, you’re probably left with an overabundance of green tomatoes now that the weather has cooled. In the past, the only benefit I saw to these late bloomers was their potential to become compost surprise. (You know, those random veggies tossed in your compost bin that sprout mysteriously in the spring.) The idea of actually consuming under-ripe tomatoes left me feeling a bit, well... green.
This fall I’ve had a change of heart. For one, I’ve redoubled my efforts to eat locally. With over 200 green tomatoes clinging to my withering vines, it seemed a shame to throw away such a bountiful and local source of produce. (As my son once said, “The only way it could be more local is if we grew it inside our house!”) For another, I’ve learned that the Whistlestop Café did not corner the market on green tomatoes recipes. The other day my mother-in-law brought over a delicious Halloween cake called “Boogers and Slugs.” Raisins served as the slugs, and the slimy boogers? You guessed it: green tomatoes. Nose pickings your mom actually wants you to eat? My kids gobbled them up.
Here are some other dishes that cleverly disguise green tomatoes in tasty ways:
Paula Deen's Green Tomato Pie:
Mario Batali's Green Tomato Spaghetti:
Not only do green tomatoes taste good in recipes, they're also good for you. Although they don't have the lycopene benefits of their red-blooded relatives, green tomatoes are high in Vitamins A and C and potassium. So go ahead, gather up those lonely tomatoes left on your vines. While you're at it, pick up a copy of Fannie Flag's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe and enjoy a "green" read along with your green feast.
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