Recycle!: A Handbook for Kids Book

Title: Recycle: A Handbook for Kids
Author/Illustrator: Gail Gibbons
Genre: How To Book
Theme(s): Recycling
Opening line/sentence: "More and more garbage! Everyday people throw more trash away."
Brief Book Summary: This book begins by introducing the issue that is arising on our planet because of all of the waste that is made by humans. She then offers a solution informing children how even they can do their part. She breaks down the ways to recycle paper, glass, cans, plastic, and even Styrofoam!
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, 1992)
Bright pen-and-wash illustrations show children collecting and separating recyclable paper, glass, cans, and plastic and taking them to deposit points or putting them out for pickup. Gibbons urges elimination of non-biodegradable polystyrene products, which release dangerous CFCs when burned, and shoves a sanitary landfill and recycling plants where materials are crushed, melted, and reformed into useful products. The captioned panels and running text stress the need for reducing waste and saving natural resources. There are two pages of arresting statistics: "Forty-three thousand tons of food is thrown out in the United States each day"; "Fourteen billion pounds of trash is dumped into the ocean every year." A concluding page lists things kids can do to make a difference. Printed on recycled paper. Attractive and timely, an excellent introduction.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Dr. Beverly Kobrin (Children's Literature)
In Recycle, author/artist Gail Gibbons simply, succinctly and clearly explains how recycling conserves energy and reduces pollution as it decreases waste. She shows basic steps involved in making new-from-used paper, glass, cans, and plastic: old bottles crushed and melted, for example, and aluminum cans ground into chips, melted into bars and pressed into thin sheets. Ms. Gibbons concludes with a few specific recycling recommendations and an assortment of not-so-trivial trash trivia (e.g. fourteen billion pounds of trash are dumped into the ocean every year!). [Note: If you have a first edition, please modify the second sentence on page 26 to read, "Some polystyrene is made using gases called chlorofluorocarbons, also called CFCs."
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both of these reviews see this book as a good introduction to recycling. They both mention the clear breakdown of steps that Gibbons provides. They also comment on her cute simple illustrations and the insightful facts that she provides in her how-to.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: Gibbons uses detailed drawings to clearly show what is being recycled and how. She uses fun colors that will appeal to younger readers. A drawing of a landfill is labeled and each section of recyclable items has clearly defined steps. It also gives some facts about recycling and garbage in general and tells children what they can do.
Consideration of Instructional Application: This book is great for bringing recycling into the classroom. It gives students an understanding of why we recycle. Students can use it to pass on the message to home, or a whole classroom can band together to join and do one of the activities in the back (collect old books for the library, begin classroom recycling, making posters, etc).