Remember 2019? When all we had to worry about was carbon
footprint and plastic pollution? Things have been overtaken by more immediate
concerns with difficult and sometimes tragic consequences but the environment
hasn’t gone away.
2019 saw a slew of books, articles, vlogs and blogs about
using less plastic and caring for the environment. There were hints and tips
for people wanting to reduce their plastic consumption and waste everywhere.
Children’s publishing was no exception.
They say that ‘children are the future’ (well, actually it
was Michael Masser and Linda Creed). They’re going to be the business leaders
and consumers of the future. Teaching them well and letting them lead the way
really is a good idea. Traditional in-print publication is generally quite a
slow, considered business but it was great to see, following the lead of Blue
Planet II, the fruits of writers and illustrators labours in the
teaching-them-well department.
My favourites were:
·
‘A Planet Full of Plastic’, a non-fiction
picture book written and illustrated by the award-winning Neal Layton (Wren
& Rook) which built on other non-fiction foundations such as ‘The Big Book
of the Blue’ illustrated by Yuval Zommer (Thames and Hudson).
‘Clem and Crab’ by Fiona Lumbers (Andersen
Press), a lovely gentle story encouraging children to act and show their love
for the marine environment.
It was also great to see the mainstream publishing industry getting
on board with the #lessplastic message. Authors and illustrators supported it
too, creating the hashtags #Authors4Oceans and #KidLit4Climate.
Who knows how the world is going to look after corona virus?
Will green issues still be on the agenda? I hope so. If nothing else, the
pandemic has shown our capacity for change and ability to adapt. It’s those
skills that will be needed in the fight to reduce carbon footprint and change
the way we consume resources in the long term.
My own ‘greening’ began in childhood when I toured the
neighbourhood with my Dad and a wheelbarrow collecting newspapers for
recycling. I’m a plogger (that’s a good thing, honestly) and low waste
advocate. I’m thrilled that this year will see the publication of my own
contribution to the green publishing canon (virus-permitting). It’s the story
of a real-life mermaid and how her friendship with a lonely whale saves her,
the whale and the ocean and, like Danny and the Dream Dog, is illustrated by
artist and marine biologist Howard Gray. I hope you like the sneak peeks of
Howard’s stunning illustrations.
I wrote the story in 2017 secretly hoping he
would get to illustrate it because I could see how much he loved the ocean just
by looking at his portfolio when I met him at the SCBWI conference in 2016. Now
our dream is coming true thanks to Tiny Tree Children’s Books and I’m looking
forward to using it to spread the word about the excellent work done by the
Marine Conservation Society.
During the lockdown, I’ve been using my daily exercise to
pick up litter and I can tell you that this problem at least definitely hasn’t
gone away, I’m just picking up different things. People still need a push to
change their behaviour. We mustn’t let up on the longer term, but no less urgent, fight we face.
