Illustrated by Sonia Lynn Sadler

3 stars

I checked this out from the library because I love reading about Maathai’s work and activism. This book is an expansion of Sadler and Johnson’s picture book, Seeds of Change: Wangari’s Gift to the World. This is the first of Lee & Low’s The Story Of series that I’ve read, which takes existing picture books and expands them to include additional information in a chapter book format.

This book includes the text from Seeds of Change along with added sidebars with additional information about related topics such as schools in Kenya, greenhouse gases, and steps to plant a tree. I did enjoy the additional information, though it was a little disruptive to the story at times.

I loved the style of the artwork. The illustrations are taken directly from Seeds of Change and reprinted in black-and-white. I’ve already requested Seeds of Change to see the original artwork in full color, which looks stunning.

At the back, there is a timeline of events in Maathai’s life, a glossary of bolded terms used throughout the book, sources for the text, quotations, and sidebars, and some recommended reading on related topics.

Nice supplemental information included. A good read overall. I’m looking forward to reading Seeds of Change to see the original presentation.

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