Gabby and Grandma Go Green

by Monica Wellington

Overview

When Gabby and Grandma get together, "Green Day" means "Fun Day." From sewing their own cloth bags and buying vegetables at the Farmers' Market to recycling their bottles, these two know how to have a good time while doing good things for the earth.

The illustrations in Monica Wellington's popsicle-bright palette-enhanced with myriad shades of green-result in a perfectly "green" addition to her books for the very young.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101646908
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	03/03/2011
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	86 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Monica Wellington was born in London and lived in Europe until she moved tothe United States at age seven. As a child she always loved to draw andpaint, but it wasn't until she went to college that she realized she wantedto be an artist for her profession. She went to the University of Michigan'sSchool of Art to earn her BFA and studied pottery, painting and printmaking.After art school, while traveling and living in a number of differentcountries, she had various art related jobs, which were all good backgroundand preparation for doing children's books.She has both written and illustrated the majority of her books. She says,"I usually start a book visually, with an idea of what I want to paintpictures about. The pictures may come first before the words for me. Boththe pictures and words go through many revisions, and I am often stillworking on the final words after I finish the pictures."She says that doing children's books is great. "I get to have a job where Ispend my days doing totally what I love to do. And it is very gratifyingthat my work goes out into the world and is shared with other people. Ifeel incrediably lucky for all this!"Since 1994 she has taught illustration at the School of Visual Arts. Shelives in New York City with her daughter Lydia.

Editorial Reviews

In this earnest picture book, carrot-top Gabby spends a day with her grandmother celebrating the environment. They sew their own reusable grocery bags, visit a farmer's market, and check out books about "save the Earth" projects from the library. Gabby and Grandma's activities are rendered in sunny gouache and photo collage, while tips and reminders about protecting the planet appear on sidewalks, signs, and in border art ("Save those scraps for compost," shouts a recurring mouse character who, with his megaphone, comes across as just a little hectoring). Though the overall effect is rather instructional, Wellington energetically weaves an optimistic green message into an urban backdrop. Ages 3–5. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 1—This simple book about recycling, reusing, and reducing is so focused on getting its message across that it ends up being dry and rather dull. Gabby and her grandmother spend a day together, first making cloth bags, then shopping, recycling, picnicking, and talking about other things they can do to preserve the environment. The ideas are not new, and the characters are not well developed. The illustrations are flat—people appear like paper dolls, without personality. On most pages a tiny mouse with a megaphone repeats the lesson illustrated, such as "Not a plastic bag in sight," or "Let's recycle glass, plastic, and paper." Unfortunately, it is not engaging enough to distract from the preachiness of its messages. Janet S. Wong's The Dumpster Diver (Candlewick, 2007), Melanie Walsh's 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World (Candlewick, 2008), or any of the recent titles about Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, such as Janet Winter's Wangari's Trees of Peace (Harcourt, 2008); Dona Napoli's Mama Miti (S & S, 2010); or Claire A. Nivola's Planting the Trees of Kenya (Farrar, 2008) are better choices.—Mary Hazelton, Elementary Schools in Warren & Waldoboro, ME

School Library Journal

When Gabby comes to visit her grandmother, they give their day a green focus, reusing, returning, refilling and recycling. With shopping bags they made from Grandma's old dress, they carry plastic bottles to the supermarket for recycling and purchase a few groceries. Going on to a farmer's market, they buy local fruits and vegetables, cheese, bread and cookies and get an egg carton refilled. They make sandwiches to take to picnic in the park. Finally they visit the library to look for books with more "save the Earth projects." Naturally, they walk everywhere, in an urban neighborhood with a community garden, secondhand stores, signs extolling mass transit, a library advertising the author's books and a post office displaying 20-cent bird stamps. The cheerful illustrations are painted in gouache, with clean lines and simple shapes. Details cut from color photographs provide collage accents. Some illustrations are full bleed; others are in boxes, like the straightforward text. These are surrounded by sketches of relevant objects, providing plenty for a pre-reader to identify. There are further ideas for going green, and a cartoon mouse adds comments and suggestions. The book will conclude with instructions for sewing a cloth bag, green activities and a list of green websites, none seen by reviewer. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews