THis book presents the ingenious ideas of 12 ordinary people—teenagers, teachers, grandparents--who have helped the environment and protected habitats

True profiles of everyday people who are making a difference. Will Allen, the Milwaukee farmer is one I've met before, but I was startled to hear about Kalydra Welcker from Parkersburg, WV, who developed a method to remove APFO contaminant from water (think C-8) But the one who really made me smile is Debby Tewa, a solar electrician on the Hopi Indian Reservation in Arizona. She has a small solar array on a trailer for people to borrow and try. The book calls her "light-bringer." ( )

This book tells the true stories of 12 different "heroes" who have made a difference by improving the environment in their community. The stories are well written and easy to read. They could be read individually to a class,or students could read on their own. The people featured are interesting, but also totally human, meaning that they make what they did seem possible and inspiring to other people. Some of the stories made me want to try what they did myself! ( )

A collection of interesting stories about kids and adults who are involved in the environment. They recycle junk, create gardens, install solar energy, and more. What makes this book a little different is most of the environmental issues these people deal with aren't just one-time problems or activism issues, they're part of their lives. Several have invented machines and/or processes to safely and responsibly recycle materials and these inventions are part of their careers. Others are campaigning to improve and save the places where they live. The stories are written in an engaging, brisk style with plenty of illustrations and explanations of the various processes involved.

Verdict: I enjoyed this book, but I'd recommend this for a school library, especially if there are units on ecology or environmental issues planned. A larger library might want to have this on hand, but I can't see kids at our library picking it up to browse and I've never had anyone asking for environmental biographies for school assignments. Sigh. Probably why I had to borrow this via inter-library loan from a school library.

ISBN: 978-0811867795; Published August 2009 by Chronicle; Borrowed from the library

This book features people of all ages and backgrounds and their efforts to help the environment from establishing ways for city-dwellers to grow vegetables to installing solar panels on rural dwellings to starting a program for proper disposal of e-waste. This may not be a first choice for browsing material, but it would certainly make a good addition to classroom units on the environment and may inspire kids to look for ways in which they, too, can help the environment.

http://abbylibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/01/book-review-heroes-of-environment.html ( )