Planet Power: Explore the World's Renewable Energy

by Stacy Clark, Annalisa Beghelli (Illustrator)

Overview

"A wonderful story for kids of all ages” – Ed Begley, American actor, conservation champion, and renewable energy activist

From the power of the sun to the force of the wind, energy is all around us! Discover six renewable energy sources that help power our world in a clean and sustainable way. With simple verse and vibrant illustrations, this engaging book makes big ideas easy to understand. Which energy sources will shape the future?
 

• Introduces children to wind, solar, hydro, and other renewable energy sources
• Builds STEM vocabulary with inset word definitions
• Includes extensive endnotes explaining the science behind clean energy

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781646862795
Publisher:	Barefoot Books
Publication date:	10/29/2021
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.75(h) x 0.15(d)
Age Range:	6 - 11 Years

About the Author

An environmental geologist, nature lover, educator and climate journalist, Stacy Clark enjoys distilling science into lively rhymes for young readers. Working between New York City and Dallas, Texas, she is inspired by the awesome potential of renewable energy to transform the way that countries around the world are powered. She loves exploring Central Park with her dog, Luna, and cycling along scenic trails and coastlines with her family.

Annalisa Beghelli worked as an architect for four years before deciding to follow her passion for drawing and graphics. She graduated from MiMaster-Illustrations and International Design School based in Milan and now works as an artist with several picture books to her name.

Editorial Reviews

A thorough and accessible informational text for climate change discussions and reports” – The School Library Journal

“We have so many clever, clean ways to power our world: the push of the breeze, the warmth of the sun, even the flow of the tides. This book reminds us what a sweet planet it is — and that if we're careful, we can keep it rolling on!” – Bill McKibben, Environmentalist and Author


“Through the power of rhyme, Stacy Clark provides readers with a view of the future of renewable power and highlights the diversity of communities around the world. Beautifully paired with Beghelli’s vibrant illustrations, Planet Power is a captivating introduction for young readers to explore the exciting possibilities of renewable energy” – Melissa A. Burt, Ph.D., Co-founder of ScienceMoms.com, Research Scientist


“Stacy Clark’s Planet Power gives kids of all ages a compelling window to a clean, green future, where the world is united against the threat of climate change. Renewable energy from wind, water, and sun is already transforming the world but we have to speed it up! Planet Power’s rhyming verses and bold illustrations will inspire and activate the next generation in service to the greatest challenge of our time” – Clara Vondrich, Senior Advisor to the President of Global Choices

“For a lyrical, light and engaging exposition of the wonder and promise of renewable energy, I highly recommend Stacy Clark’s Planet Power” – Michael E. Mann, Director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University

“Packaging science, art, technology and smart energy solutions into an exquisite non-fiction picture book is a clever way to launch the next generation of clean energy engineers and entrepreneurs. Stacy Clark and Annalisa Beghelli have created an exciting clean energy roadmap for this new generation to follow” – Dianna Aston, award-winning author of science books for children

“Planet Power is a fun and lively journey around the globe that reveals how the wind, water and sun supply clean electricity for towns, islands, cities and countries” – Mark Z. Jacobson, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program at Stanford University

“Creative, vivid and imaginative — Planet Power introduces kids to the many different ways we can grow and harness our energy from this amazing planet on which we live” – Katharine Hayhoe, U.N. Champion of the Earth and Professor of Political Science at Texas Tech University, Director of Texas Tech’s Climate Science Center

From the Publisher

10/01/2021

K-Gr 2—This title presents climate change conversations to children in a way that can help them process the planet's current state, find real-world examples of solutions, and get answers to their questions about solar power, fossil fuels, hydropower, and more. In colorful illustrations serving as artful recreations of global locations and as informational scientific diagrams, readers are invited into the science of climate change research. The book begins with an illustrated view of the world and spends the remainder of the text hopping from place to place and visiting researchers in different locales. These scientists study a particular means of planet power: hydro, solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, and wave. Each of these researchers is introduced later in short biographies, humanizing science and inspiring young readers to pursue planet power projects of their own. The book's structure relies on terminology to tell the story of planet power, introducing kids to the ways they might experience this power in their everyday worlds (e.g., rain or rivers; sunshine; tides; swimming fish), and how these experiences relate to renewable energy. Concepts briefly introduced earlier in the book, typically written in clear prose or rhymed stanzas, are supplemented with detailed information and resources for further exploration in the final pages. This book is of interest across various reading levels, with rhymed reading for storytelling and bibliographic material for those seeking additional information VERDICT A thorough and accessible informational text for climate change discussions and reports.—Jessica Schriver, Rutgers Univ., Newark, NJ

School Library Journal

2021-06-16
With water, wind, sun, and its own subterranean heat, our Earth can supply green electricity to power human activities.

This exploration of energy options presents six alternatives to the fossil fuels that currently dominate our electrical power supply, each using a different force to generate power. Each power source is described in brief abcb rhyming stanzas accompanied by a few sentences of explanation and two illustrations on a pair of spreads; they are described in more detail in extensive backmatter. The examples include hydropower from a dam in Paraguay, solar farms in India, wind farms in northern China, tidal turbines in New York Harbor, geothermal power in Kenya, and wave power in Gibraltar. The first 29 pages are likely intended for reading aloud, but the rhymes and rhythm strain, and the four-beat pulses become tedious. Spreads include a title indicating the energy source; important words are set in boldface and defined in context, but there is no glossary or index. The last section is by far the most useful, with simple explanations and diagrams that facilitate understanding of the similarities and differences among these power sources and their working parts. Sadly, while the writer rightly criticizes the way fossil fuels have damaged the environment, she does not touch on environmental changes caused by dams, fields of solar farms, windmills, etc.

Look at the illustrations, skip the poetry, and learn from the prose. (Informational picture book. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews