Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai by Claire A. Nivola. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008.
ISBN 0-374-39918-2
Biography of Wangari Maathai, the 2004 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Restoring ruined land to its original beauty will inspire young readers to possibly change the course of history.
Media: Watercolor Illustrations
5Q/4P
6th-8th Life Science/Ecology
D. Guhl Summer 2009
Planting the trees of Kenya: the story of Wangari Maathai by Claire A. Nivola. New York: Frances Foster Books, 2008.
ISBN: 9780374399184
Annotation: this is the story of Wangary Maathai she was born in Kenya and she loved the land where she lived, she came to study to the U.S. but when she returned to Kenya the land that she remembers was gone, so she decided to teach others to preserve the environment.
Media: watercolor
Rating: 5Q/5P
Subject: Environmental Science, Social Science. Grade 5-7
Lesson Plan
Goal
To teach students about reforestation and the environment
Objectives
- To see the importance of reforestation and preserving the environment
- To learn about Wangari Maathai
- To be exposed to a non-fiction picture book
- To learn about the way of life of Kenyans
- Plant threes at school
Lesson
- Read the book. Discuss the story with students. Talk about the characters in the story.
- Plant some trees at school
- Have students make a short research paper on reforestation
Assessment
- During the discussion make sure every student participates and let them run the discussion to see if the students understood the story.
- Set a minimum and some specifications for the research paper.
- When planting the trees talk about reforestation and ask them about what they found out on their research paper.
The artwork of this book is watercolor illustrations which follow the story. Most of them are double-page illustrations and the illustrations really focus on what the text says. The colors used are very warm. These illustrations could be used individually as paintings in art galleries because they are so well done.
Armando Rivera 7-29-09
Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai by Claire A. Nivola. New York: Frances Foster Books, 2008.
ISBN: 978-0-374-39918-4 Subject/Genre: Biography, Picture Book Grades: 5-7
Matthai's work with rebuilding forests in Kenya is retold through beautiful double page watercolor landscapes. Author's note provides additional biographical detail.
Curricular connections: Could be used as part of an earth day commemoration activity, or unit on environment protection/conservation.
Literary Devices: Personification: "the earth was clothed in its dress of green." "When the soil is naked, it is crying out for help, it is naked and needs to be clothed in its dress."
Q/P: 5/5: Exceptionally well done in every way, although the cover belies the quality of the material.
BVG, 7/21/09
Nivola, C. (2008). Planting the Trees of Kenya: the story of Wangari Maathai. New York: Francis Foster Books.
ISBN 0-374-39918-2
Wangari Maathai grew up in Kenya but left to attend school in America. Upon her return she finds a changed landscape and must help her people get their life back.
Media - Watercolor illustrations
Rating - 5Q/5P
2008 Book
Curriculum Connectin - Elementary School; can be used in Social Studies or Science when studying Kenya. It could also be used to promote social action.
MBallenger 5/3/08
Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai by Claire A. Nivola. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2008.
ISBN: 978-0-374-39918-4
This is the story of Wangari Maathai who set out to save her native Kenya by educating the people about the importance of preserving the country’s trees.
Media: watercolor
Rating: 5Q/5P
Posted by LA 4/23/8
Nivola, C. A. (2008). Planting the trees of Kenya: the story of Wangari Maathai. New
York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux. ISBN: 9780374399184
5Q/5P
When Wangari Maathai returned to her native Kenya after attending college abroad, she finds her homeland barren of trees and her people struggling with erosion and water shortages. She convinces her community that planting trees will restore their broken eco-system, an example of environmental activism that led to the planting of over 30 million trees during the past 30 years. Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.
Media: Watercolor
With the increasing “green” awareness, this book illustrates how vulnerable eco-systems are and how humans can impact the environment for its benefit or destruction. It also shows how one person can affect positive change and not to give up hope. This inspirational story of Maathai and her Green Belt Movement supports curriculum that studies the dynamics of humans and the environment as well as promoting awareness and ideas of what can be done to lessen the human footprint on Earth.
TK 4/29/08
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