Tag Archives: Save the Planet

The Topsy-Turvy Bus by Anita Fitch Pazner (Book Review)

Reuse, recycle, renew, and rethink!

Climb aboard the Topsy-Turvy Bus with Maddy and Jake as it travels around the country teaching communities the importance of taking care of the earth and creating a better, cleaner, healthier world.

Based on a real Topsy-Turvy Bus created by Hazon, the largest Jewish environmental organization in North America.

Amazon Purchase Link

 

For Teachers & Librarians

Bring Anita into your classroom! View her presentation list.

Download classroom worksheets here:

Worm Maze

Word Search

Word Scramble

Beginner Crossword Puzzle

Intermediate Crossword Puzzle

Topsy Turvy Coloring Page

Picture Matching Game

 

(review request submitted by the publisher for an honest critique) 

 

The Topsy-Turvy Bus is correct: “Our planet is dirty and messy.” Plastic bottles and garbage are littering our waters and our coastlines. The problem isn’t only the trash that plagues our seas. There’s also pollution from cars, fertilizers that taint our soils, and the adverse effects drilling and mining have on our environment. Earth is hurting, but how do we help it?

The children in the story don’t know what to do and discuss the issue when the most unusual bus rolls down the street. “Nobody had ever seen a bus like the Topsy-Turvy Bus. It was upside down and right side up, all at the same time. And it didn’t run on gasoline.” I’ve been behind trucks that smell like french fries from using recycled fast-food restaurants’ frying oil as fuel, but donuts—now, that’s a vehicle I’d love to travel behind or on! 

The Topsy-Turvy Bus will inspire children to think outside the box and be creative in reusing, recycling, or repurposing things around their house and community. Maybe your family or school could make this a project. 

Years ago, as a teacher, our school taught students the importance and value of starting a compost. Each classroom started and maintained one. I encourage you to read “Make Your Own Compost” and consider constructing one for your home or classroom. And as always, please reduce, recycle, and reuse.

Side note: I was shocked to realize the topsy-turvy bus was real. “You can find a Topsy-Turvy Bus in two locations in the United States. The first is in Connecticut, the second in Michigan. Both run on biodiesel fuel consisting of reusable veggie oil. The buses were created to teach kids how to recycle, rethink, reuse, and renew our world’s resources.” If I’m ever in those two states, I plan to hop aboard the unique and environmentally friendly topsy-turvy bus.

 

Heart Rating System:

1 (lowest) and 5 (highest) 

Score: ❤❤

Amazon Purchase Link

 

 

About the Author

Anita earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) and a Master Gardening degree from Michigan State University. She’s created picture-book workshops for kids of all ages, ranging from second graders to high school students. She’s presented lectures for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), VCFA, and The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP). She continues to volunteer her time to several non-profit organizations including Hazon, dedicated to making the world a better, cleaner, kinder place for us all. Anita spends her free time training a rascally dog, named Finn, and playing in the dirt. 

Website Link

 

 

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Saving the Seas for the Purple and Green: A Story of Cleaning Up the Ocean by Nancy Carlisle (Book Review)

SAVING THE SEA FOR THE PURPLE AND GREEN by Nancy Carlisle

 
A young girl loves the tide pools that she sees on her runs by the oceans, but one day notices garbage amongst the colorful creatures she finds there. Along the beach she meets conservationists cleaning up the beach who educate her about the dangers that trash pose to ocean life. She decides to help also.
 
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add to goodreads
 
 
I received a complimentary copy of this book from iRead Book Tours. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
 
Every day, we see the effects humans are having on the planet. We are jeopardizing many habitats through our pollution and overuse of products. Oceans, lakes, streams, and rivers are home to incredible creatures and need protection from us humans. Saving the Seas for the Purple and Green: A Story of Cleaning Up the Ocean by Nancy Carlisle points out how the plastics we use find their way into the waters.


We depend on certain products to make our life easier, but we don’t always consider how these items affect our water friends. In Saving the Seas for the Purple and Green: A Story of Cleaning Up the Ocean, several people have shined a light on water pollution and, through their efforts, hope to save as many water lives as possible. For example, at nine, Milo started the Skip the Straw movement. Thanks to his efforts, restaurants use fewer plastic straws, like many consumers at home. 


Many people have developed inventions to help trap garbage. My daughter and I had recently learned about Boyan Slat and his system of trapping plastic. Other people found creative ways to show people the amount of trash that accumulates in our waters daily: artwork and clothing/accessories made from recycled ocean trash.


We must teach our children the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling. We also need to remind them not to litter. Heck, adults need to remember this as well. We are the biggest threat to the environment. 


Surfboard creator Taylor Lane’s documentary is coming out this fall about the ocean pollution problem. (To find the date and time, check online.) I plan to watch it with my family, and I hope you will too.
 

Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest) 
Score: 
❤❤
 
 
 
 
 
Meet the Author:
Author Nancy Carlisle
 
Nancy Carlisle is and author and illustrator who writes hopeful books for kids that interweave facts and fiction about the environment and global responsibility. During her 38-year career as a sustainable architect and researcher, her focus was on the environment. She led work nationally and internationally on sustainable and energy efficient buildings and communities and won awards for collaboratively designing award-winning sustainable buildings, a laboratory campus, and improving the energy efficiency of U.S. laboratories. Since retiring, Nancy has worked as a volunteer teaching English as a Second Language and mentors first generation college students. She is a strong advocate against plastic waste not only because it pollutes our oceans and water but also because it contributes CO2 to our atmosphere.
 
​Nancy enjoys the outdoors and international travel. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Society of Environmental Journalists. She studies botanical illustrating and French language. 
 
connect with the author: website
 
 
 
 
 
 

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