A review by mat_tobin
Follow the Moon Home: A Tale of One Idea, Twenty Kids, and a Hundred Sea Turtles (Children's Story Books, Sea Turtle Gifts, Moon Books for K by Philippe Cousteau Jr., Deborah Hopkinson
4.0
When Viv, a young girl settling into her new school in a coastal town in South Carolina, meets an engaged and interesting teacher whose classroom is focused on a class project on ‘community action’, she begins to make choices that help her combat that early anxiety but also ones that change her perspective of what she can accomplish alongside others. Together they devise a community action plan in order to support the baby Loggerhead turtles that hatch on the beach every year.
Since the community’s light source are confusing the hatchlings, Viv and her classmates organise a project which requires the community to hide their lights at night during hatching season. How they go about achieving this is wonderfully told and beautifully illustrated in watercolour, pencils and ink by Meilo So. What could have been a painfully twee approach to grassroots activism is well handled and affected and empowered me. The idea of a community coming together for a common cause helps Viv settle in whilst bringing a sense of cohesion and closeness to the community too.
Cousteau is a world-reknowned environmental activist and his previous work has won multiple awards. Along with Hopkinson and So, this story is well presented and has, at the back, further information at the back for parents, teachers and young activists.
Since the community’s light source are confusing the hatchlings, Viv and her classmates organise a project which requires the community to hide their lights at night during hatching season. How they go about achieving this is wonderfully told and beautifully illustrated in watercolour, pencils and ink by Meilo So. What could have been a painfully twee approach to grassroots activism is well handled and affected and empowered me. The idea of a community coming together for a common cause helps Viv settle in whilst bringing a sense of cohesion and closeness to the community too.
Cousteau is a world-reknowned environmental activist and his previous work has won multiple awards. Along with Hopkinson and So, this story is well presented and has, at the back, further information at the back for parents, teachers and young activists.