Our House Is On Fire: Greta Thunberg’s Call to Save the Planet

As in Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story of Africa, Winter once again offers a stirring profile of an environmental hero, this time teenage Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. After learning about climate change at school, Greta, a quiet girl who has felt invisible, spends hours reading and watching films “about our warming world.” Overwhelmed with sadness (“She barely ate or spoke”), she devises a way to raise awareness, embarking on a school strike and ultimately sparking an international movement of children marching and speaking out for planetary health. Winter introduces the alarming facts in scenes of the young student as she views evidence of climate change—bleached coral, flooded homes, wildfires, endangered animals—in framed images, as if on a screen. As the movement takes shape, square panels, contained in white negative space, turn into full-bleed pages of high-energy activity. Taking her title from Thunberg’s urgent call to action, Winter ends this timely directive for young readers with a simple, powerful question: “What will you do?” Ages 3–8. [em](Sept.) [/em]