A Picture Book a Day for a Year: Day 7

Picture Book: Planting the Trees of Kenya:                                                                    The Story of Wangari Maathai
Author: Claire A. Nivola

Illustrator: Claire A. Nivola

Summary: Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan biologist and the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, founded the Green Belt Movement in Africa. She was a Roman Catholic whose faith spurred her to work for environmental justice. This is her story.

Hanna’s Comments: There are many children’s books about Wangari Maathai. This version is available in a variety of languages and includes a detailed author’s note about Wangari Maathai’s work. Find another PBT post featuring a book about Maathai which highlights her personal story at this link: http://www.picturebooktheology.com/2016/10/a-creation-care-hero.html . Wangari Maathai died in 2011. There is much information about her on-line.

Publisher & Date of Publication: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008

Age and Grade Appropriateness: 5 and up, K and up

# of Pages: 32

Available in Spanish? Yes and others

Formats other than book: Tablet versions available for other books

PBT Category: Biography

PBT Topics this Book connects with: abuse/abuse of power, action, Africa, attentiveness/observation/seeing, beauty, brokenness, call/calling/vocation, caring/tending, care of creation, challenges, change, commitment, community, consumerism/consumption/riches, dependence/interdependence, difficulties, the environment/nature, flowers/leaves/trees, feasting/food/hunger/nutrition, fruit/fruit of the spirit, gardening/planting/pruning/sowing, gifts/giftedness/talents, God’s will, helping, healing/healthcare, heroes, home, hope, image of God, injustice, insecurity, jubilee, labor/work, land/mountains, leadership/servant leadership, life, memories/remembering/ritual/tradition, mentors/teachers, mission, nurturing, participation, perseverance, pleasing God/the Shema, poverty, power, problems/problem solving, renewal/restoration, savior/saving, sin, teamwork, time/timing/over time, transformation, unity, victims, water, wisdom

Scripture connections: Scriptures about trees (Psalm 1:3, Isaiah 60: 13, Jeremiah 17:8), Tree of Life (Revelation 22:2), build your house on rock, not sand (Matthew 7:24, Luke 6:46)

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book during a children’s program on Contemporary Heroes of Faith, Environmental Justice, or Creation Care.