Seeds of Change: Planting a Path to Peace
John Steptoe Award for New Talent in Illustrations - American Library Association (ALA)
A picture book biography of scientist Wangari Maathai, the first African woman--and first environmentalist--to win a Nobel Peace Prize (in 2004) for her work planting trees in her native Kenya.
As a young girl in Kenya, Wangari was taught to respect nature. She grew up loving the land, plants, and animals that surrounded her-from the giant mugumo trees her people, the Kikuyu, revered to the tiny tadpoles that swam in the river.
Although most Kenyan girls were not educated, Wangari, curious and hardworking, was allowed to go to school. There, her mind sprouted like a seed. She excelled at science and went on to study in the United States. After returning home, Wangari blazed a trail across Kenya, using her knowledge and compassion to promote the rights of her countrywomen and to help save the land, one tree at a time.
Seeds of Change: Planting a Path to Peace brings to life the empowering story of Wangari Maathai, the first African woman, and environmentalist, to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Engaging narrative and vibrant images paint a robust portrait of this inspiring champion of the land and of women's rights.
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Jen Cullerton Johnson is a writer, an educator, and an environmentalist with master's degrees in nonfiction writing and curriculum development. She teaches at both the elementary and college levels in Chicago, where she also conducts writing workshops. Johnson can be found online at jencullertonjohnson.com.
Sonia Sadler was an illustrator and a fine artist who focused on depicting the cultures, lives, and stories of peoples of African descent. Her book, Seeds of Change, earned her a Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent. Her unique style drew inspiration from quilts and employed a variety of techniques and mediums--from watercolor to scratchboard. She passed away in September 2013.
* "Richer than other treatments of Maathai for children and more grounded in her work's implicit feminism. . . Maathai always wears a colorful headscarf or fabric bow, and the community spirit she resuscitates is joyfully celebrated on every spread. Vibrant and accomplished." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Poetic. . . includes direct quotes, sourced in appended notes, which will help young people feel a more immediate connection to the inspiring activist and her powerful message. Sadler's bright mixed-media art, reminiscent of Ashley Bryan's work with its white outlines and rainbow-hued shapes, reinforces the sense of a depleted land growing green again and the presence, even in bustling city scenes, of a vibrant natural world." -- Booklist
"A more thorough investigation of Maathai's life. . . Throughout the book runs the image of the Kikuyu people's sacred mugumo tree as the source of Maathai's tree-planting project, an idea 'as small as a seed but as tall as a tree that reaches for the sky.'" -- Publishers Weekly
"This entry on Wangari Maathai takes a slightly more comprehensive look at her life than several other recent books... Vivid colors sparkle from within the thick white outlines in the batik-style illustrations that fill the pages." -- School Library Journal
John Steptoe Award for New Talent in Illustrations - American Library Association (ALA)
Amelia Bloomer Book List - American Library Association (ALA)
Great Lakes Great Books Award Nominee - Michigan Reading Association
Green Earth Book Award Honor - The Nature Generation
Notable Books for a Global Society - International Literacy Association (ILA)
Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Awards - Northland College
United Women in Faith Reading Program - United Methodist Women
Young Hoosier Book Award - Indiana Library Federation
