Wangari Maathai
The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
“Trees are living symbols of peace and hope.” –Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace laureate
Wangari Maathai changed the way the world thinks about nature, ecology, freedom, and democracy, inspiring radical efforts that continue to this day.This simply told story begins with Green Belt Movement founder Wangari Maathai’s childhood at the foot of Mount Kenya where, as the oldest child in her family, her responsibility was to stay home and help her mother. When the chance to go to school presented itself, she seized it with both hands. She traveled to the US to study, where she saw that even in the land of the free, black people were not welcome.
Returning home, Wangari was determined to help her people and her country. She recognized that deforestation and urbanization was at the root of her country’s troubles. Her courage and confidence carried her through adversity to found a movement for peace, reconciliation, and healing.
Aurélia Fronty’s beautiful illustrations show readers the color and diversity of Wangari’s Africa—the green trees and the flowering trees full of birds, monkeys, and other animals; the roots that dig deep into the earth; and the people who work and live on the land.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dramatic and dreamlike paintings celebrate Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt movement. As a child in Kenya, Maathai learned the importance of nurturing forests, and after receiving her high-school diploma "at a time when very few African women even learn to read," she traveled to the U.S. There, she studied the connections between environmental destruction, poverty, and oppression before returning to Kenya: "She asks that people think about the future even if the present is harsh and difficult." Fronty's fluid artwork incorporates organic motifs and African textile patterns to stirring effect, and extensive appended materials offer powerful supplemental information to conclude this standout tribute to Maathai's perseverance and hard-won successes. Ages 6 9.