Books

Reading is a big thing for our family. Both David and I are avid readers. I'll read just about anything while David is a big science fiction and fantasy fan. Of course, we want to share this love of books with our son so Davis has a bookshelf full of books himself, some of which are for when he's a bit older. One of Davis' favorite things to do is to pull all the books off the shelves and pile them on the floor and then pick one or two to hand to me or David to read to him. This morning, he did this and amazingly, he pulled off two books that are actually a series.....in order. These two books are actually some of my favorites as they encourage environmentalism which is another thing I'm wanting to teach Davis about. Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel is about a superhero whose powers help him teach others about recycling.


Michael Recycle meets Litterbug Doug by Ellie Bethel is about the same green caped crusader helping the town litterbug clean up his act and turning him into the litter police.

Each book has a couple pages in the back with simple tips that kids and adults alike can use everyday to help the environment such as turning off the water when you brush your teeth and using rechargeable batteries.

I googled the author of these great books to see if she had a website I could link to and actually came across this blog reviewing Michael Recycle several months ago. The author of this blog goes into more detail describing the book than I did and the blog itself seems to have a lot of great green information so I'll be heading back there to search the more recent entries.

In other book news, I'm currently reading a great book about the link between the lack of nature in most children's lives and the rise in obesity, attention disorders and depression. Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv does more than cite studies and give statistics on this issue, the book gives parents ideas on how to involve their children with nature more. I plan to use several of the ideas as Davis gets older. One of my favorites is the sunflower house he writes about on page 175. Plant sunflower seeds around an 8 by 8 foot square of white clover to create a natural enclosed space for kids to lay and enjoy some quiet time