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megatsunami's review
4.0
The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and unique - a delight for the eyes. The text starts out with sweet stories about Wangari as a child learning about the importance of trees from her mother; this really engaged my little reader and gave the story a great foundation. I think the biographical detail is too sophisticated for my preschooler as it gets to Wangari's adult life ("Wangari was elected to the parliament of Kenya"; "They paid some corrupt police officers to arrest Wangari"), but my preschooler doesn't seem to mind! (She demands to read this book over and over since we've had it from the library, and I just heard her in her bath referring to one of her dolls as "Wangari.") The book really portrayed a beautiful environmental message about interconnectedness - both text and illustrations convey a deep respect and love for nature. I also felt the author did a good job of addressing the issue of sexism in a way that was straightforward but not overly discouraging.
crystal_reading's review
4.0
What a great inspiration. Wangari is an inspiration to all that even one person can make a change.
lordofbooks's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
stuhlsem's review
5.0
Feminist, environmentalist, and educational, what could be better?
Would strongly recommend to people who deal with children! It encourages thoughts about privilege, exploitation, and tree planting!
Would strongly recommend to people who deal with children! It encourages thoughts about privilege, exploitation, and tree planting!
eirenophile's review
4.0
I love the brightness of this book's illustrations and the trajectory of the narrative. It is different from the "exceptional person" narrative that I sometimes find tedious. It does not feel like her whole life was leading up to the Green Belt movement, nor that that was the sum of her life. She has more dimensions than a single important accomplishment. And the people who tried to keep her down were not easily defeated strawmen either, though it did seem like all had been resolved by planting the trees rather than there being so much struggle left. I think the style of illustrations might not have been so appealing if it weren't for what Wangari and the other women wore - bright beautiful flowers of clothes, even at night. With these illustrations they seemed bursting with life and that was a perfect fit.
libscote's review
4.0
This book won the John Steptoe new talent in illustrating award. I did really enjoy the illustrations. The story wasn't new to me, as there have been many picture books coming out about Wangari Maathai in the past few years. If you don't already have one, or if she is a popular figure at your library, then this would be a good addition.
maidmarianlib's review against another edition
4.0
Such rich illustrations, the colors and lines are stunning and bold. The story shows Wangari Maathai's whole life and her passion and perseverance.