Tag reusing

Ella and the Useless Day

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Ella and the Useless Day
Meg McKinlay and Karen Blair
Walker Books

Having had a good look around their house, Dad and Ella decide it’s time for a serious clear out and so they get to work right away. Together, they search, scramble, sort, poke, pick and pile all the useless stuff they find into the trailer to take to the rubbish tip, where useless things go. However, before they’ve even set off, their neighbour delightedly relieves them of the tricycle, calling it “Absolutely perfect!” and so it goes on until by the time they reach the dump, their trailer is almost empty,

even the holey blanket has been given a new lease of life. Then Ella realises that the final item is one they can make use of back in her own bedroom.

Meg McKinlay tells a subtle, gently humorous tale of recycling and reusing, creativity and community, that is highly pertinent in our throwaway society, where we all ought to be giving serious thought to living more sustainably. One wonders what on earth can be done with the “fashion disaster” of a suit,

the leaky goldfish bowl, the broken crockery and other things but young listeners/readers could have fun thinking of possibilities before turning to the final wordless spread where in a series of vignettes, Karen Blair shows just what their new owners did with them. Throughout the story, her watercolour and pencil illustrations provide lots of delightful details and underscore the wry humour of the words.

My Must-Have Mum

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My Must-Have Mum
Maudie Smith and Jen Khatun
Lantana Publishing

This smashing story is told from the perspective of Jake and shows the special close relationship he has with his much-loved mother.

Jake’s mum is an inveterate skip scavenger seeing an opportunity for upcycling almost anything and everything, hence he calls her his ‘must-have mum.’ How the two of them manage to get some of her acquisitions up to their fourteenth floor urban flat, look like pretty difficult tasks, but Jake is hugely supportive of his mum’s unusual collecting habit.
Once home, she straightway starts working, transforming other people’s throw-aways into exciting new things, even working outdoors if necessary.

There’s one person who is anything but enthusiastic about Jake’s mum’s activities and that’s Mr Price. Indeed when he sees her latest effort his comment, “There she goes again. Your mum won’t be satisfied until she’s changed every last thing in the world!” sets alarm bells ringing as Jake lies in bed that night. Suppose she decided to change him too. Best to leave before she has the opportunity to do so, so off Jake goes outside into the cold. And there he remains until morning when he wakes to find …

What his must-have mum says to her ‘one and only must-have son’ is both hugely reassuring and uplifting.

In tandem with Maudie Smith’s words, Jen Khatun’s upbeat illustrations are bursting with energy and full of vibrant detail. This is a book I’d definitely recommend adding to family and primary school classroom collections.

Eco Craft Book / The Extraordinary Book That Eats Itself

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Eco Craft Book
Laura Minter and Tia Williams
GMC Publications

In their latest book, Laura and Tia offer some cool ideas for using bits and pieces that might otherwise end up being thrown away.

Instead of consigning that old T-shirt or other no longer worn garments to the rubbish or recycling bin, why not suggest your children try a project like the T-shirt friendship bracelets here.

Alternatively, if the T-shirt is white, it can be dyed using a natural plant dye and refashioned into a ‘no-sew tie-dye bag’. Those are just two of the fabric projects.

Getting even closer to nature, youngsters can make a collection of interesting shaped leaves, grasses or perhaps feathers and use them to make some printed cards (or perhaps wrapping paper)

and if you want to attract more wildlife into your garden, there are instructions for creating a bug hotel using for example, old tin cans.

Each mini project is succinctly explained with step-by-step guidance and clearly illustrated with colour photos. In addition there are spreads that talk about climate change, what youngsters can do to help protect the environment and why it is important to immerse children in nature.

This book would be a boon to parents who are coping with home schooling, but all of us who work with children have a duty to nurture their creativity and to encourage them to think about the impact on the environment of all they do.

The Extraordinary Book That Eats Itself
Susan Hayes & Penny Arlon, illustrated by Pintachan
Red Shed ((Egmont)

If you’re looking to engage a child or children in some environmental projects here’s a book to try. It’s packed with eco-projects – thirty in all – and each page (as well as the cover) is cleverly designed to be used in an activity – hence the title.

It’s amazing just how much difference simple everyday actions such as turning off the lights when you leave a room, and at night can make, not only for the safety of animals but to reduce electricity consumption. Ditto, saving water by turning off the tap while brushing your teeth or using your bath water to ‘feed’ your plants (of course that takes a bit of effort but every drip and drop counts). There’s a Make a Difference in your home’ page with additional suggestions .

One of my favourite projects is Throw a seed ball to rewild a built-up area, something I’ve never tried, although I have scattered plenty of packets of wild flower seeds. This is really clever though and all that’s needed in addition to wild flower seeds are water, flour and soil to make your mixture. Can’t wait to have a go at this.

(The reverse side suggests making seed paper for writing a message on – another clever idea.)

Whether or not home schooling continues, this is certainly worth getting hold of.