Episode 505: Environmental Books for Kids

episode 505: environmental kids logo

Thank you for joining us on Reading With Libraries! We are so glad you are here to join our book group podcast!

We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and we work with all types of libraries.

We started this podcast to provide useful information for library people doing Reader’s Advisory work. There are so many books out there that it’s tough to be an expert on all of them. So we pick a new genre each week to chat about and hopefully provide you with some insight into what may be an unfamiliar genre!

This week we’re discussing environmental books for kids and are so excited to welcome a new Guest Host to the podcast: Beth Russell from the Rockford Middle School-Center for Environmental Studies. Thanks for joining us, Beth!

Beverages:

Each week we like to connect the theme of our books with our beverages. Today we have drinks that include produce you can grow in your garden, and can be adjusted to be nonalcoholic.

Raspberry Lemonade

  • 1-3/4 cups fresh squeezed lemon juice, from 8-12 lemons, strained
  • 1/2 pound (8 oz.) raspberries, plus more for serving
  • 5 cups water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • Lemon wedges, for serving
  • Fresh mint, for serving
  • Combine the raspberries and ½ cup of the lemon juice in a blender; purée until smooth, then pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a large bowl to strain out the seeds (the fastest way to force it through is by pressing a ladle against the strainer in a circular motion). Add the remaining lemon juice, water, and sugar to the bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Taste, then and add more sugar, lemon juice or water if necessary (keep in mind that ice cubes will water it down). Pour into glasses with ice cubes and garnish with lemon wedges, raspberries and fresh mint, if desired. 

Garden Fresh Cocktail (Nonalcoholic)

  • 1 cup (180 g) tomatoes, diced
  • ½ cup (15 g) spinach
  • ¼ cup (30 g) carrots, halved
  • 1 Tablespoon onion, peeled, diced
  • 1 sprig parsley
  • ¼ cup (35 g) red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, diced
  • ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • ⅛ teaspoon hot sauce
  • 1 dash salt
  • 1 cup (130 g) ice cubes
  • Blend for 1 minute using the tamper to press the ingredients into the blades, or until desired consistency is reached.

Strawberry, Basil, and Lime infused water

  • 8 cups filtered water
  • 2 cups sliced strawberries
  • 2 small limes, peeled and sliced
  • ½ cup fresh packed torn basil leaves
  • Stir water, strawberries, limes and basil together in a large pitcher. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to blend flavors. Strain out solids, if desired.

Genre Discussion:

We will be talking about environmental books that are both fiction and nonfiction, with a specific focus on titles for young readers.

The term eco-fiction is defined by Wikipedia as “the branch of literature that encompasses nature-oriented (non-human) or environment-oriented (human impacts on nature) works of fiction.

The article shares this quote from Dede Cummings, “Ecofiction forms a literature-based path towards an invigorated understanding of nature’s place in human life and is part of a new phase in nature writing that seeks to include a modern consciousness in narratives of place.”

The Book Genre Dictionary shares this information about nonfiction environmental books: “they are about the habitat in which one lives and the structure and balance that keeps it healthy, alive, or strong. The books in the genre can be about anything from pollution, to global warming, to recycling – anything that impacts the world of nature.”

Suggested Reading Resources:

Our Book Discussion

We have our beverages, we are familiar with this week’s genre, let’s get to the book discussion!

You can click on any of these links to go to Amazon.com for more information about the books we shared this week. If you buy anything while you are there, Amazon will give us a small percent of their profits from your purchase. Thanks in advance for helping to support the mission of CMLE – we appreciate it!

Conclusion:

Thank you so much for joining us on Reading With Libraries!

We hope you are feeling empowered to share some new environmental book titles with the young readers in your library. Thank you to Beth for coming to talk with us and for all your recommendations!

Join us next Thursday with another genre, more guest hosts for our book group, and more books to share and discuss. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast so you don’t miss a single episode! And if you want to hear more about the work we do in libraries or expand your library skills, check out our podcast Linking Our Libraries!

Bring your book ideas, bring your beverages, and join us back here on Thursday!