A selection of non-fiction books about our planet. Two of these are available as gift book giveaways this month. Read on to find out more.
Newhaven School Library Blog/News, Reviews and Giveaways
Carole Oldfield librarian@newhavenschool.co.uk
November 2021 sees Glasgow host the COP26 conference and the Federation of Children’s Books is running National Non-fiction November.
Book Beats this month picks out some books about global warming, climate change and conservation. How can we repair and preserve our world for future generations of people, plants and animals?
COP26 – So what is it?
For a quick explanation of what COP26 is, watch this BBC Newsround video, a good investment of two minutes of your time for a basic understanding. There are lots of linked articles if you want to know more.
Many young people believe this conference could and should be extremely important for their futures. There are many issues they are concerned about. The next two items here show some young people are working hard to make their voices heard.
UNICEF – Voices of Youth
“We all have a voice, and we can use that voice to speak out in the face of injustice, to show others they are not alone, to inspire action. Together our voices are stronger. Together we can build a better world.”
This quote is from one of the Voices of Youth blogs on the UNICEF website. In these blogs people aged 13 to 24 are invited to use the power of the written word, photography or video to tell the world about issues they care about.
I am sharing one link for a group of young artists in Nigeria who are calling for urgent action to stop environmental degradation, especially in Nigeria. Follow this link and find the words and art work by Bankole Emmanuel, 18, who is from Nigeria.
For the November gift book giveaway, complete the sentences below and email them to me. Then choose a gift book from the five books shown below. Tell me which book you choose in the email.
Find the missing words from Bankole’s quote about his artwork.
“I am a young _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (12 letters) artist. I am a Nigerian and _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (10) about inspiring _ _ _ _ _ _ (6) through my pencil and paint brush.”
Copies of these new books will be coming to a Newhaven library soon.
Young Poets Network and People Need Nature
Another way to use creative powers as protest and to make statements about your concerns is through poetry. Winners of the Young Poets’ Network and People Need Nature competition have now been announced. Young people were asked to submit their original poems addressing the theme “Poems to Solve the Climate Crisis”.
You can read and hear or watch each poem by clicking on the poem title on the sidebar here.
I’ve hijacked two verses of the poem called ‘Sixteen Haiku’ by Daniel Clark. It made me reflect on questions we don’t ask and actions we don’t take.
10
apathy appears
the answer
to our non-questions
11
where were you
when the seas
were warming?
National Non-fiction November – Book Beats Anniversary
The first edition of Book Beats was posted November 2020, a year ago. We featured National Non-fiction November in that edition too. It’s a celebration of information books run by the Federation of Children’s books.
Many Newhaven students have selected these two ‘true story’ books as top scorers from this year’s seventeen Book Buzz books. You can borrow them from the library now.
In under 50 words
Animal Antics is full of clever photographs of animals doing daft looking things. Take the foxes on the ‘Perfect Pouncer’ pages. They have a very good reason for diving head-on into the snow. Look at the book in the library to find out why they do it.
Survival in Space tells the true story of the Apollo 13 mission which went horribly wrong when there was an explosion on board. It was 11th April 1970. Borrow the book to find out whether the crew made it home or whether this was a doomed mission.
GIFT BOOK GIVEAWAYS
For November we have two book giveaways for you to choose from:
- I am extending the new notebooks and pens* giveaway offered in last month’s blog. Find October Book Beats here.
- This month details of the gift book and how to enter are above in UNICEF – Voices of Youth. Find and follow the link and complete the sentence.
Contact me at librarian@newhavenschool.co.uk and remember to use your school email account. Ask me if you are not sure how gift book giveaways work or if you need help.
Maximum one gift per person
Deadline: 30th November 2021
Open to students from all Newhaven sites, learning at home or at school
New notebooks and pens waiting to be claimed in the gift book giveaway.
END NOTE: Look for Books
To find more books on our planet, climate change, pollution and other environmental subjects:
- Explore non-fiction books at 363, Contemporary Social Issues
- Or try Earth Sciences, shelved at 550
- Call in and see me and we can look for something you’ll enjoy
