Reuse This Book!

by Clarion Books, Emma Morris (Illustrator)

Overview

A paper-over-board picture book with sturdy pages and the interactivity of Press Here that introduces younger readers to recycling, resources, Earth science, and conservation.

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Revitalize. Learn how budding environmentalists can help take care of the Earth with the interactive story Reuse This Book! Can you tap the seeds to help them grow? Tilt the book to water the tree? Trace the path of the bumblebee? Bold collage art made from reused mixed media materials enhances the interactive experience as the reader helps to care for the new life. Learn about the importance of the environment in this introduction to conservation and green living for little hands and inquisitive minds. Printed on responsibly sourced paper, this book is the perfect read-aloud for the classroom or at home!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780358447740
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/30/2021
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Emma Morris is an illustrator and designer who loves showing storytelling within her work. Emma enjoys drawing guinea pigs as superheroes, and, when she is not creating, she drinks copious amounts of tea and listens to Elton John with her tortoise, Celine. She lives in south London, UK. Instagram: @thecreativesausage; Twitter: @crsausage

Editorial Reviews

"What makes the book fun for young readers (and demonstrates the idea of reuse) are the activities on each page that ask the children to blow on the flowers, circle the earth with their fingers or tilt the whole book to see how trees can grow..... Each page has bright, bold colors along with simple, cheery text....this book offers a clever way to introduce the importance of recycling." – School Library Journal "Effective image-to-text correlation makes this valuable to the youngest children, and the gamelike nature of the book’s design adds even more appeal."–​Booklist   —

From the Publisher

02/01/2021

PreS-Gr 1—A colorful picture book introduces very young children to the importance of protecting the environment through reusing and recycling. It opens by reviewing the life cycle of plants and pollination and then moves directly into showing how the things that we grow can be recycled by composting them into fertilizer for next year's garden. Next, the book shows readers how to recycle other items such as paper and glass to conserve natural resources, for example, cutting down trees to make paper. What makes the book fun for young readers (and demonstrates the idea of reuse) are the activities on each page that ask the children to blow on the flowers, circle the earth with their fingers or tilt the whole book to see how trees can grow. It ends with a brief review of why recycling is important and then reminds children that they can "reuse" the book by flipping it over and reading it again. Each page has bright, bold colors along with simple, cheery text. VERDICT Best for one-on-one sharing, this book offers a clever way to introduce the importance of recycling.—Anne Jung-Mathews, Plymouth State Univ., NH

School Library Journal

2021-06-29
This interactive picture book with board covers promotes environmental responsibility for the youngest consumers.

Text on each page invites readers to do something that will affect the environment: “Point to each budding flower to show the bee where to land”; “Blow on the flowers like the wind. Whoosh!” Following each action, readers are praised for their contributions (in these cases helping with pollination and spreading of seeds, respectively). However, as this book lacks the anticipatory interactivity of Hervé Tullet’s Press Here (2011) or Christie Matheson’s Tap the Magic Tree (2013), the results of the actions can only be imagined. Tracing pictures of trees won’t make them grow. Yes, on the next spread the trees are taller and thicker, but even young children know they didn’t make them grow, so the cheery “Nice work!” seems disingenuous. The explanation of composting is particularly puzzling. Children are told to “shake the bin” to help the waste settle and then to let it sit, but the apple cores and banana peels have obviously still not decomposed when the child is told to “tilt the book to empty out the bin into the garden.” Similarly, on the spread about recycling nothing actually moves when readers follow the instruction to “Tap and drag each item to the correct bin.” The basic message of “reduce, reuse, and recycle” gets lost—this is one of those books that would work better as an interactive app.

It means well, but few young children will be eager to reuse this particular book. (Board book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews