How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate

Awards

Reviews

This clear, detailed explanation demonstrates that we know about climate change through research by scientists and students at home and in the field – patient observation and investigations that lead to information about Earth’s climate history. Environmentalist Cherry collaborates with photojournalist Braasch to distill the information in the latter’s adult Earth under Fire (2007), adding examples of young people whose participation in citizen science projects through their schools supports the ongoing work of documenting these changes. The topically organized text is informative and accessible, explicit in its message, positive in tone and particularly useful in its broad array of examples and suggestions for student involvement in both inquiry and solutions. Numerous small photographs show children and adults around the world, a wide range of affected wildlife and effects of climate change on the landscape. A lengthy “Resources” section includes both books and a variety of information and action sources with Internet addresses. The scientists whose work is described are listed in a separate index, identified by position. A must for school libraries, and science teachers may want copies of their own. (index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

— Kirkus Reviews (March 1, 2008) – Starred Review

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Veteran science writer Cherry and award-winning photographer Braasch team up to make climate change less frightening by showing children how to empower themselves as “citizen scientists.” Cherry begins with a no-nonsense chapter about hypotheses and theories, facts versus belief. She goes on to explain how observation can help bring about climate-change strategies; the information about children involved with Project Budburst is particulary interesting. Along the way, there are examples of how nature is changing-from migrations to melting icecaps to rising coastlines-and how these changes have been observed. The second section, “Fitting the Clues Together,” considers what scientists do with their information and notes successes that have been achieved (for example, species saved and reduction of carbon footprints) and ways kids can help reduce energy. The can-do emphasis helps to make the topic less depressing, and the intriguing color photographs are thoughtful and upbeat. Many scientists were called upon during the writing of this book, and it shows.

— ALA Booklist (February 15, 2008)

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Cherry and Braasch introduce readers to scientists around the world whose research contributes to an understanding of the causes and consequences of global warming. They also describe the work of citizen scientists, including children, whose observations contribute to knowledge about important changes that are occurring. Studies range from documenting bloom dates of trees and flowers to extracting mud cores from the ocean floor. Small color photographs show the fieldwork and experiments of scientists and students. Even though many findings indicate a grim outlook for plant and animal life, including humans, if the current trends continue, the au-thors consistently note ways in which students can have a positive impact by making personal choices and influencing public policy. A concluding spread identifies the more than 40 scientists mentioned in the text. The book’s wide-ranging exploration of scientific studies and the encouragement to people of every age to become citizen scientists and active participants for change make this a valuable purchase.

— School Library Journal (June 2008) – Starred Review

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Meant to be like a youth version of Braasch’s Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming Is Changing the World, this beautifully photographed global guide offers a look at how research in diverse fields leads to an understanding of the warming climate – and what children and adults are doing about it. The first and largest of the book’s four sections, “Where We Find Clues About Climate Change,” presents researchers, citizen scientists and schoolchildren examining the natural world and unearthing data about climate. Spreads jump from topic to topic, from rainforests to tree rings, oceanic mud samples to 800,000-year-old ice cores. The empowering “What Scientists and You Can Do” section provides practical, proactive suggestions, e.g., eating less meat, drinking tap instead of bottled water. While heavy on the jargon, Cherry (The Great Kapok Tree) immediately and clearly defines all science terms. The book would be overwhelming to read in one sitting; kids and educators will find this timely information is best served up via its bite-sized chapters. Readers young and old looking to make a difference will appreciate the book’s hopeful tone as well as its comprehensive resource lists. Ages 10-14.

— Publisher’s Weekly (March 10, 2008) – Starred Review

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The title is accurate. The authors survey a wide range of indications that Earth’s climate is changing. These clues include the earlier spring arrivals of migrating birds, earlier blooming of wildflowers and Washington DC’s cherry trees, melting glaciers and icecaps, micro-fossils from cores of mud from the ocean floor, and bubbles of ancient air retrieved from cores of glacial ice. In his earlier Earth Under Fire, photojournalist Braasch visited climate researchers in the field to document their discoveries. Here he and Cherry (a seasoned author of environmental books for children) also spotlight citizen science and (especially) data that can be, and are, collected by children. They explain why data and computer models indicate that anthropogenic greenhouse gases are making our world warmer. Along the way, Cherry and Braasch remind readers of the importance of using data to test hypotheses. Reflecting the book’s hopeful perspective, the authors suggest numerous things that kids and families can do to reduce their climatic footprint. An extensive list of Web sites and books offers additional “sources of information, inspiration, and action.”

— Science Magazine (December 2008)

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. . . Lynne Cherry, the environmental author, illustrator, and now filmmaker, echoed that thought when I called her to get her views on the merits and challenges of informing children about these issues. She said that a key is to expose as many kids as possible to nature and scientists’ assessments of our impact on the environment, knowing that some young people will be inspired even as many aren’t. Cherry described how she has seen “thousands of kids just come alive” when exposed for the first time to nature’s gifts, even in something as modest as a rooftop garden at an inner-city school. “If you don’t introduce kids to it, no one is ever going to know if they have that inclination,” Cherry told me.

Lighting that initial spark is vital but insufficient. Books have a special role in allowing children whose interest is piqued by a direct experience—even as simple as a zoo visit—to dig deeper and explore further. My love of the sea grew out of probing tide pools as a kid along the Rhode Island coast. But I also still remember the cover art from The Lady and the Sharks (1969) by the marine biologist Eugenie Clark and the photos from Jacques Cousteau’s World Without Sun (1965, both Harper & Row). The direct experience was the foundation, but books provided the planet-scale expansion of my appreciation for the importance of oceans and their inhabitants.

Cherry and I agree that one concept, in particular, is important to make known to young people: that science is a process, not a set of facts. This is a reality that’s not necessarily absorbed in the classroom these days given the emphasis on teaching the basics to drive up test scores. One of Cherry’s most important contributions along these lines is the recent bookHow We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate (Dawn, 2008), which she cowrote with photographer Gary Braasch. They effectively convey the challenge of turning a new idea into new knowledge by telling the stories of researchers in the field, including an ecologist charting climate-driven changes in the behaviors of migrating alpine butterflies and a glaciologist’s work on eroding ice sheets. The more people understand from an early age that science advances in stutter steps through testing, failure, and argument, the less likely they’ll be to interpret some of the persistent disputes over important facets of global warming to mean society can simply sit back and wait for a magical solution. . . .

— Article in School Library Journal – Andrew C. Revkin (April 1, 2010)

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For many children, the subject of climate change may be confusing or even scary. Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch want to give the middle school set the facts. In their book How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate, readers will discover that clues to climate change can be found in multiple places where scientists, citizens and even children can go look. That includes records of bird migration patterns and the dates that cherry trees bloom, as well as analyses of air bubbles sealed inside glacial ice cores and of the shells of foraminifera, single-celled sea creatures. After providing many more examples, the authors explain how such evidence has convinced nearly all climate scientists worldwide that greenhouse gases are making the world warmer.

Cherry, the author of many children’s books on the environment, and Braasch, a photojournalist and the author of Earth Under Fire, a book on global warming for grown-ups, also offer science lessons that students can apply to any research inquiry. They make the crucial point that scientists hunches about Earth’s complicated ecosystems aren’t always correct. Some predicted that certain penguins would falter in warmer temperatures and that high-altitude trees would flourish but the data proved them wrong. Who doesn’t need reminding that their hypotheses need testing?

A bonus: The book lists multiple ways children and communities around the world can and do help study climate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their own backyards. And a word of warning: A teacher’s guide for the book identifies the best audience as grades 5 to 8; kids on the older side will absorb more.

— American Scientist (Nov/Dec 2008)

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Front and center in this excellent book are the data upon which explanations for rapid climate change are built. Each double-page spread in the first two-thirds of the book features a research project revealing changes in ecosystems – in the behaviors of butterflies and penguins, in the sizes of glaciers and sea levels, and in the amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The carefully built progression of cases – just a small sampling of the vast amount of data out there – drives home the message that change really is occurring, and that the rate of change is accelerating. A highlight of the book (and a hallmark of this field) is that data are being collected not just by scientists but also by naturalists, children, and other concerned citizens. Illustrations include sharp color photographs of researchers and children in the field and laboratories as well as age-appropriate graphs and tables that transform basic observations into evidence. A strong underlying message is that committed readers can make a difference; the last section of the book and the end materials include an index, an exhaustive list of resources, a directory of scientists, encouragement for readers to get involved in both science and conservation, and suggestions for making a difference that are laudably nontrivial.

— Horn Book Magazine (Sept/Oct 2008)

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How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate is above all about the process of learning: How to observe phenomena in the world, collect information about them, and draw logical conclusions based on the evidence. In short, it’s about how science is done, and in particular how children and scientists can and are working together to learn more about how the climate is changing right now, all around us.

Written in clear, engaging prose by children’s author Lynne Cherry, and illustrated abundantly with photographs by Gary Braasch, the book is aimed at children in grades 4 through 9. Although the books strikes me as a little text-heavy for the younger members of that set, it’s meant to be one that teachers and students use together to explore how scientists gather data about the natural world, and analyze it for clues on global warming’s progress and impacts. (A teacher’s guide for the book is available, and the great resource section at the end of the book includes information on student and citizen science projects.)

Kids love animals, so cannily, the authors often describe how young students and citizens have worked actively with scientists on critter-centered projects, like Monarch Watch, the Thousand Eyes Project, and Frogwatch.

Toward the end, the books gets into some “what next” content: “Taking Charge of Your Climate Footprint,” “The Power of Friends and Community,” and “What You Can Do,” a pragmatic list of personal actions children can take, and encourage the adults in their lives to take as well — from asking parents to turn off idling car engines, to eating less meat.

It’s all good advice for living a more ecologically sound life, but I’m especially happy to see that Cherry and Braasch have not skimped on the bigger picture, either. The book’s final chapter describes how citizens, scientists, and adults use the law – in this case the Endangered Species Act – to make change for the better part of policy as well as personal preference.

— GlobalWarming.Change.org – Emily Gertz (July 24, 2009)

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And for a younger crowd (and with a far more optimistic tone), there’s Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch’s How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate. Cherry and Braasch walk readers through the scientific method, explaining how observation and experimentation can illuminate the world around us. The fascinating case studies manifest climate change include bird and butterfly migration, cloud forest amphibians, and the tundra food chain. Focusing on the science – and not the politics of peril – lessens the worry inherent in the subject. The authors smartly play up the wondrous diversity of a world worth saving – and convince readers that science has the power to do so.

— Horn Book Guide – Claire E. Gross (June 2008)

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When middle school students at a school in Vermont noticed that breathing the air made them feel ill, they also realized the buses sat outside with idling motors mornings and afternoons. Upon discovering the fumes contained twelve different pollutants, they petitioned the school board for a “no-idling” policy. In February 2007, it became a state law. That’s the kind of environmental awareness promoted in this very timely book. By using science, 4th through 9th graders are introduced to the world around them.

An award-winning children’s author and illustrator of more than thirty books, Cherry wrote the classic The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest eighteen years ago. Nature is a theme prevalent in later books as well, including Flute’s Journey: The Life of a Wood Thrush and How the Groundhog’s Garden Grew. Braasch, a photojournalist for over thirty years, takes the photos illustrating his nature articles for such magazines as National Geographic, Audubon, and Scientific America. His photos told the story in his recently published book for adults, Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World.

Cherry and Braasch have combined their talents to show a younger demographic how to “read” the science at their fingertips. In two page segments, they examine how the changing elements may be affecting birds, flowers, butterflies, the ocean’s “conveyor belt” (the Gulf Stream), and the coastlines.

In kid-friendly language, the authors incorporate the work of nearly forty-five scientists into easily-understood reads, ranging from Dr. Camille Parmesan’s information on the Edith’s checkerspot butterfly, to Dr. Lloyd Keigwin, who studies ancient ocean mud cores. The authors also make it a point to showcase students, termed citizen scientists,” who assist in various national conservation programs within their schools. Readers are assisted with unfamiliar words. Nearly sixty-five terms are italicized, with their meaning immediately and comfortably defined. For example, in the section entitled “Penguins and Polar Bears in a Changing World of Ice,” a major food source is mentioned: “krill, a small shrimp-like creature that swims in huge schools.” Braasch took more than half of the photographs that accompany the text, and there are at least two photos per two-page section. The last four pages list numerous resources, including websites and books. A teacher’s guide is also available.

The authors seem to lead by example since the book itself is “a product of sustainable forestry practices.” They also stand by an old saying: “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

— ForeWord Magazine – Robin Farrell Edmunds (March 2008)

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More and more information is being shared with us about global warming and climate change. With all of the television, internet, and newspaper articles popping up on these topics, what can we believe? Is there any evidence of this change over time taking place in your neighborhood?

This book introduces the methods through which the scientific community has documented climate change and the responsibilities of citizen scientists as we move to remediate the problem. As you read this timely book, How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming, you’ll find out how some students, teachers, and scientists have become active in collecting data. Many of the examples can be applied in local communities.

Students young and old have become part of the studies in the USA, Mexico, and Siberia. For example, if you have butterflies or birds in your area, perhaps you could start keeping track of such activities as their arrival and departure dates. Or you may be interested in noting plant life changes as the weather warms in spring and summer or cools in fall and winter. Recording ways that plants or animals adapt or change their growth and location are important now and will be in the future as certain trends are examined by students and scientists.

There are even historical connections in this book. Readers will learn, for instance, that by keeping records at his Monticello home, Thomas Jefferson was one of the original phenologists who studied how nature changes with the seasons. You can be a phenologist, too, and ask why changes are occurring. Living things seem to be responding to change in climate where the air temperature affects the lives of animals and plants.

By reading and discussing this book, readers can easily relate to the most current information that is carefully researched and presented in two-page spreads. There are many outstanding full-color photographs of students and scientists actively participating in observation as well as data collection. By using computers, their data can be analyzed, graphs can be created, and hypotheses can be explored. Amateur naturalists around the world are documenting climate change. Some records go back 250 years and are indicating broader patterns of change.

Using maps and data collected, citizen scientist students can explore the work of many leading scientists as they investigate why the numbers of frogs, polar bears, or penguins are decreasing as their special habitats are effected by rising temperatures. Scientists have even been able to reconstruct a 9,000 year timeline of climate records with bristlecone pine tree data.

As you read this amazing book, you will find new vocabulary words defined in context; reading and comprehension go hand in hand. Students and teachers can participate in brainstorming, experiments, water monitoring, or class discussions that might lead to student activism to improve our environment. With others around the world are working on their hypotheses, we explore how life forms are changing due to increases in temperatures. From these efforts, there is a growing realization by students and adults that what we do here in North America impacts life in other places in our world.

By presenting real-life accounts of scientists and their work, author Lynne Cherry helps students and others connect with our environmental problems and actions by becoming active decision makers. Hopefully the interconnections of all living things with their surroundings will lead us to see the Earth as one living system in the past, present and future.

Cherry distinguishes between a climate footprint and a carbon footprint,and presents ways that students can get involved in saving planet Earth. The “Resources” section provides many more ideas about programs that students can join as active participants. This engaging book is a “must read” for students, teachers, parents, and their community at large. A separate teacher’s guide is correlated with standards for grades 5 to 8.

— NSTA Recommends (Nat. Science Teachers Assoc.) – Suzanne Flynn – (March 2008)

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Books about climate change typically start from the premise that students will only passively participate. Lynn Cherry’s book departs from this tradition by way of including middle –school children as part of climate change science. Throughout an extraordinary photographic and illustrative collection, she also shows students as active researchers and scientists in the study of climate change. The result is a beautiful book that engages children visually, intellectually, and inspirationally, with insight into the science of climate change.

As the title denotes, the book is about the science of climate change, beginning with an introduction about the search and collection of scientific data. Cherry and Braasch feature the involvement of students in many data gathering situations, from tree growth, to water quality and flow to frog populations. Once the data is gathered the clues are explained in an understandable and meaningful way. The reader cannot help but get drawn in through the beautiful pictures and the belief that science is everywhere and we are all participants.

The book introduces the concepts of interconnectivity, developed hypothesis, and stories about children helping scientists collect data. One could not help but get excited about making a change to help the environment and doing it as a scientist with an assortment of tools, knowledge, and nature which seems to make the activity so much more achievable. Throughout the book, children and scientists are found working together in an honest effort to reduce one’s impact on the environment.

Yet, the value of the book lies in the educational resources that it has to offer educators, students, and parents. The book works as an engaging resource for educators of all types as it offers projects for teachers and students. Also, there is a pretty substantial glossary and resource section that make the text an excellent compliment to environmental education

— Clearing Magazine – Heather Mattioli – (March 2010)

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With colorful and interesting graphics, charts, photographs and concise, scientific explanations,How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate is an excellent resource. Written by Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch, the book helps students and educators to better understand climate change and its scientific evidence. It illustrates and explains research on the effects of climate change on various ecosystems while also telling the inspirational stories of young people who are doing their part to slow climate change and reduce their carbon footprints. This resource is written for upper elementary through middle school reading level. A separate Teacher’s Guide by Carol Malnor suggests classroom activities that help students practice graphing, critical thinking and laboratory skills while learning about the principles of climate science.

— Green Teacher (Summer 2010)

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In today’s busy, confusing world of too much media information (which doesn’t always mean good information), how can we know anything at all? It’s overwhelming, not to mention downright scary at times. Take global warming, for example. Is it even real?

Although this book is intended for the 9 to 12 year old group, I also found it to be a refreshing, easy to understand (yet not overly simplified) view on what’s really going on with changes in our environment. The book is divided into four sections: (1) where we find clues about climate changes; (2) how to fit those clues together; (3) what we can do about what we find; and (4) resources. With helpful color photos, the authors look at different ways in which humans can measure changes in the environment – from butterfly migration to habitats in the tropical rain forest; from shifting coastlines and rising seas to melting glaciers. The book draws upon the Gaia hypothesis, which views all aspects of nature and living beings as one interconnected whole. Because humans have an important role to play and must looker deeper at our own responsibility for our earth, the authors include a very good section on what we can do to help — especially young adults as ‘citizen scientists.’

This is not a doom and gloom book, but one that encourages a balanced view of what is actually happening on our planet in terms of changing climate patterns. I appreciated that the authors ended on a positive note, emphasizing success stories of what is possible. As they note, “…every voice matters…together, many voices can make a big difference.” I found this to be a helpful, encouraging book for students of all ages.

— Alaska Wellness – Keila Swan (July 2010)

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This book takes a positive look at climate change by teaching the many lines of scientific evidence that have led us to conclude that climate is changing as a result of human behavior. Unlike most texts that begin by explaining the most direct lives of evidence, like ice, mud, and tree cores examined by climate scientists, Cherry and Braasch start with more abstract clues. First, they discuss phenology (how nature changes through the seasons) as evidence for changing climate. Using examples of citizen science projects like Project Budburst, Journey North, and Frogwatch, the authors show that kids have already helped to observe and record how plants and animals change their habitats or behaviors as the climate changes. Only then do they show more numerical and empirical evidence for climate change. This is an excellent source for kids in shown how the science of climate change has evolved over time, and how kids can be and have been part of the research. Less attention is paid to “pointing fingers” at humanity as the catalyst for climate change and the potentially drastic consequences of a warming world. This book was an award winner in the AAAS/Suburu competition for Excellence in Science Books in 2009.

— American Paleontologist – Trisha Smrecak – (Spring 2010)

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Another approach to understanding global warming is to learn about the work being done by an international selection of scientists. Evidence-based knowledge of global climate change is the focus of the book How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming (ages 10 to 14). Studies by more than 40 biologists, as well as student researchers are documents in this collection of evidence that climate change is real, and that plants and animals are reacting to it. Through clear descriptions of actual scientific studies, a young reader absorbs clues that are symptoms of global warming: rainforest deforestation, rising sea levels, and changing carbon dioxide levels, to name a few. Lynne Cherry, an accomplished writer of environmental books, and photojournalist Gary Braasch teamed up to write this book, which not only presents a convincing argument, although its advocacy is subtle, but also illustrates the collaborative spirit of scientific research that is required to further our understanding of the long-ranging effects of global warming.

Science, after all, is about asking questions, exploring problems, and searching for adequate that cannot always be found in a classroom or textbook. This book encourages scientific curiosity and takes a multidisciplinary approach to learning about our environment. Additional resources are plentiful. Instead of waving the banner of environmental consciousness, How We Know demonstrates ways to take active roles in the community to solve a problem that affects all of us.

— BioScience Magazine (October 2008)

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Given youth preference for online sources, buying an ecology book can be a difficult decision; nevertheless this resource merits the cost and shelf space. Its historical perspective and reputations of its author and illustrator will extend its shelf life. It distills and repurposes photojournalist Braasch’s Earth Under Fire, including some of its remarkable before-and-after photographs of places devastated by global warming. In this version for younger readers, he teams with a well-known author and illustrator of children’s books to produce a reader and classroom friendly book. Organized in four sections, the book first lays out the evidence for global warming in two-page verbal and visual snapshots of a single topic – whether birds, butterflies, tree rings, or ice cores. Subsequent sections synthesize the evidence, describe things students can do to become involved, and provide well-organized lists of additional resources that seem likely to have a respectable shelf life as well.

Although Cherry’s writing is not as engaging as in other works, she capably introduces and explains scientific vocabulary within the text. The two-page format is well suited for browsing or a quick introduction to its various topics. Adolescents might not appreciate the “kids” in the subtitle, but the illustrations will appeal to a variety of age levels. A fifty-six page Teacher’s Guide with hands-on activities and additional resources is also available.

— VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) – Donna L. Phillips (October 2009)

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. . . In fact, a veritable cottage industry of childrens books on climate change has sprung up almost overnight. These range from the primer, Why Are the Ice Caps Melting? (Lets Read and Find Out!), in which lessons on the ravaging of ecosystems also offer plenty of opportunities to practice silent e, to the ultra-sophisticated How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming, by foremost environmental author Lynne Cherry, in which middle school readers are cast as coprincipal investigators. This new literary subgenre is impressive. Reading its various offerings, I found myself admiring the respectful tones and clear explanations. These books describe global warming as a reality that no longer lingers in the realm of debate. And yet, they are not, for the most part, scary. Indeed, the first sentence in the inside flap of How We Know What We Know is “This is not a scary book.”

— Orion Magazine – Sandra Steingraber (Sept/Oct 2008)
(excerpt from the article, “The Big Talk”)

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Global warming isn’t simply a matter of heat.

Life on Earth is supported by the unimaginably complex interaction of dozens of systems: the nitrogen cycle, the carbon cycle, the oxygen cycle and many others, all working together in a fragile balance. Over the millennia, upsetting this balance has led to all sorts of catastrophic results, such as the extinction of the dinosaurs.

One only has to look to the planets to our immediate right and left to see that it’s eminently possible for an atmosphere not to support life as we know it. But while it’s easy to say “drive less, recycle more,” it’s much harder to explain the nuts and bolts of the greenhouse effect. That’s why the new children’s book, How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate, will be so helpful to anyone who wants to understand the facts and theory behind global warming.

Acclaimed environmental author Lynne Cherry and Portland-based photographer Gary Braasch have targeted their book to middle-school-age children, but it also may serve as a helpful primer on how science works in general.

Aimed at children ages 10 to 14, this book isn’t designed to be read in one sitting. In fact, it would make a good summer project to go through chapter by chapter, discussing all the helpfully defined vocabulary words along the way. (For example,”Climate: the average of weather in a certain area over a long period of time.”)

This is a book that faithfully follows the maxim: There are no stupid questions. And while the material is weighty, it’s broken into such small sections most readers should be able to absorb the information without becoming baffled or overwhelmed.

The first section lays out “Where We Find Clues About Climate Change,” and starts at the very beginning with “What is Science?”

For skeptics and true believers alike, the chapters are packed with clear and useful information about how data is gathered, analyzed and tested, explaining the difference between facts and beliefs. Cherry describes the record-keeping that allows scientists to prove that flowers are blooming earlier and birds and butterflies are changing their ranges, due to climate variations.

Section two, “Fitting the Clues Together,” explains how scientists synthesize all the myriad sources of data to draw conclusions about the Earth’s future.

One refreshing quality of the book is its lack of hysteria. It lays out the facts of climate change without the typical accompanying doomsday scenarios of rising tides flooding coastal cities and drought choking off food supplies.

The section “What Scientists and You Can Do” maintains this calm, though urgent, tone while encouraging steps families can take.

There are the now-familiar admonitions to eat less beef, drink tap water and use compact fluorescent light bulbs along with some success stories about environmental actions taken by kids, governments and scientists.

The tale of the bald eagle’s return from near extinction should provide encouragement to fans of the polar bear, whose habitat is threatened by climate change. Another story tells of a group of middle school students in Vermont who agitated to stop school bus idling that saved 20 gallons of gas per bus per year. That doesn’t sound like much, but imagine the savings in gas and the reductions in carbon emissions if 100,000 schools did this

The book also includes a useful resource guide, which provides links, from the federal government’s kid-friendly site on climate change to sites to learn about light pollution, carbon reduction and how to find a green car.

Dawn Publications focuses on books that encourage children to respect and preserve the Earth and its inhabitants. With this one, they’ve done that and more.

— Portland Tribune – Audrey Van Buskirk (July 17, 2008)

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This book explains the fundamentals of climate change so well – wonderfully written for children, although adults will find it factual and interesting too. And, it is fun to read!

— Dr. Warren Washington, UCAR Senior Scientist Advisor to Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush & Clinton

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Climate change doesn’t just affect adults. With this in mind authors Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch set out to educate children about the topic of global warming with How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate. Though the tone of the book, which is fairly text-heavy, probably requiring parental guidance for younger readers, is gentle, the aim of the book is proactive. As the authors say early on, “science is like a serious conversation,” and the book does not shy away from detailed scientific explanations. One goal of this educational reader seems to be establishing the concept and validity of science in general, a particular stumbling block for America’s slack public school curriculum.

Though the book covers much of the same ground, albeit at a lower reading level, as Al Gore’s famous global warming presentation, it is never alarmist, and instead focuses on the grounded evidence for global climate change and the collective efforts of many different kinds of scientists. Attractive photographs of the natural world, working scientists, easy to read graphs, and kids in action frame the many short essays, which examine a range of topics from CO2 capture in the rainforest to mud cores taken from the bottom of the ocean. The book slowly and thoughtfully gathers a body of evidence about the nigh irrefutable connection between CO2 emissions and global warming, taking its time before it presents the underlying dangers posed by the process. The authors are also careful to show how kids around the world have been a part of the movement by collecting data as “citizen scientists.” Programs like Journey North, which traces Monarch butterfly migrations, and Project Budburst, which notes how early plants and trees flower each year, provide a way for students to directly contribute to the ongoing body of climate change research.

Parents reading the book to their children might just learn something themselves, as the dynamics and science behind global warming are laid out in a simple-to-understand way. The differentiation between weather and climate is also made early on, a critical concept that many adults in the media still fail to grasp. And, should a child reader wish to learn more, get involved with a variety of “citizen scientist” organizations, or reduce his carbon footprint, the book provides a robust listing of groups and resources.

— GreenSource (March 2009)

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How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming by Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch. The jacket flap reminds readers that, while the topic may seem scary, this book is one of optimism and hope. But most importantly, this book aims to enlighten and educate readers that with even small steps we can all contribute in some way, shape or form to preserving our planet. The book is divided into four sections: Where We Find Clues About Climate Change; Fitting the Clues Together; What Scientists and You Can Do and a very useful Resources section. Working with experts in the field of global warming, the authors have meticulously and thoroughly gathered all the pertinent info to date so that young people can easily grasp the facts along with colorful charts, graphs and fabulous photographs. This is a book I would recommend not only to families interested in understanding the impact of global warming and ways to change it, it should be on the shelves of every school across America. Teachers would welcome the depth and breadth of curriculum topics covered here. Please also visit the website for additional info: www.howweknowclimatechange.com.

— L.A. Parent Magazine – Ronna Mandel (June 5, 2009)

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How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming by Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch contains fascinating two-page stories and telling photos. Cherry writes of scientists as detectives unraveling mysteries and young citizen scientists observing, measuring, and reporting their findings. Frogwatch, Project Budburst, Monarch Watch, Journey North, Toolik Field Station, Student Partners Project in Zhigansk, and Weather Rats are all citizen science projects supporting active research. With awareness, empowerment, and action there is hope. Reading How We Know… provokes and inspires.

— National Gardening Assn. (www.garden.org) – Charlotte Kidd (September 22, 2011)

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This award-winning book opens with letters from Professor David Sobel addressed to students, teachers, and parents. He reminds readers that although the challenges are great, there are many interesting and positive things that can be done to help preserve this wonderful planet we call home. The book offers the science behind the news and issues we are constantly hearing and reading about, including clues to be found in the flowers and the butterflies, the forests and tundra, rainforests and deserts.

For educators there is also A Teacher’s Guide to How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Lessons, Resources, and Guidelines About Global Warming.

— Outdoor America – Liz Roy (Winter 2010)

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When Ted Geisel a.k.a Dr Seuss writes, “Dear Lynne Cherry, I wish I could draw and paint as well as you do! That is a beautiful and powerful book (The Great Kapok Tree) My Lorax doesn’t feel quite so lonely now that your great birds and beasts have come to join him,” I’m prepared to take notice. Lynne Cherry has authored/illustrated over 30 children books. In her latest publishing foray she teams with photojournalist Gary Braasch, whose recent work Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World we reviewed here.

Together they have crafted a very fine new tome. The subtitle Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming pretty much sums up the scope of the book. It is about science – the observation and recording of natural occurrences and phenomena. It lays out pretty clearly what work scientists are doing to better understand the world around us, and how they have come to certain conclusions about our changing climate.

Students of all age will find inspiring examples of their peers engaged in citizen-based scientific endeavour. How We Know is peppered with real live examples of kids making discoveries and helping boffins get a better grasp on what’s going on.

There is nature in abundance here and all the kid’s faves get a mention: Frogs, butterflies, trees, birds, caribou, penguins, polar bears, flowers and even mud. We understand the target to be 4th to 9th grade students, but as it is written in totally accessible style, we’re sure that parents and teachers of kids outside this age bracket will find it very useful in helping to connect kids to the natural world.

We jotted down some of the projects already involving students like the Thousand Eyes project, Budburst, Journey North, Monarch Watch, Frogwatch in (USA, Canada and Australia), Student Partners project, Weather RATS, Clean School Bus, and Eternal Children’s Rainforest. Then we ended up at the resources at the back of the book and found bucket loads more. The book is crammed with real world examples of kids learning to understand the world around them, to foster that innate curiosity about the way things work and our place amongst them. Aside from the chapters on junior and citizen science projects, the final chapters provide plenty of scope for kids to participate (and encourage their adult pals) in active planet saving.

Lynne Cherry knows how to write for her audience. The words are high readable and informative. And married perfectly with Gary Braasch’s engaging nature photography.

Though we feel the vast swaths of text might come across as looking a bit heavy going for younger readers. Paragraph breaks instead of indents may have given the body text a lighter feel. And we reckon the designers could’ve conjured up a more inspiring and appealing cover. But we’re fussing about minor details. The vast bulk of this book is primed with excellent knowledge and images set to enthuse new generations of John Muirs, Rachel Carsons and Al Gores.

— Treehugger.com – Warren McLaren (June 2008)

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It’s already familiar to many of us that our climate and world are changing. Due to global warming, the glaciers are melting, carbon dioxide levels are rising, and seasons are changing, but this book gives a hopeful, in-depth look at our world today. The beautiful, full-color photographs illustrate both the challenges that nature is facing and also what we, as “citizen scientists,” can do to help change the world. Did you know that flowers are blooming seven days earlier in spring than they did in 1970? Or that polar bear cubs are born smaller than ever before? Glaciers in the Arctic are melting, but we can help change nature by changing the way we live. This book helps us first understand what we are facing, than shows us how easy it is to start taking action today.

— Stepping Stones Magazine – Heather Morgan (May/August 2009)

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Young curious minds get more than just an introduction to the science of climates and global warming when they read this sophisticated 66-page book. It’s packed with detailed facts and wonderful photographs to teach readers everything from changing animal habitats, rising seawater and temperature changes, to what they can do on their own help change their own “Climate Footprints.” There’s also a list of resources, a list of scientists mentioned in the book and a detailed index. I love that this book encourages students to think like scientists, and perhaps even inspires them to become scientists in the future. It sure got me thinking about saving planet earth.

— L.A. Parent Magazine – Debbie Glade (April 2011)

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Parents today have the toughest and most important job in the world – passing the torch of knowledge and environmental stewardship on to their children. This magical little book provides an invaluable service to parents by blasting open the doors to the world of climate science. A world that our children will be required to know well in order to solve the problem of global warming.

— Heidi Cullen, Anchorperson on The Weather Channel

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Since Earth Day is coming up this Tuesday, I thought I’d mention two new books that are dedicated to greening the planet.

I’ve no doubt that most of you are already sincerely striving to do your part to reduce global warming: color your halos green! But you may well come across some new ideas here that you’ll be able to put into use.

. . . I also heartily recommend a new nonfiction book for upper-grade level children called How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate. Portland photographer Gary Braasch supplied the terrific images for this book, which focuses on research being performed the world over by scientists who want to learn more about what causes global warming and how it can be prevented.

The neatest part about this book is its focus on children from Mexico to Siberia who are working as “citizen scientists,” performing actual experiments and collecting actual data. The results from their work are being incorporated into major, groundbreaking studies. And the studies are leading to positive action.

For example, when kids in Vermont studied the air quality at their school, they discovered that school bus fumes containing twelve different pollutants were inv”ding their classrooms. They petitioned the school board a “no-idling policy for school buses, and also testified before their state legislature. Now Vermont has a no-idling law.

The empowering point is that people of all ages can make a difference, especially when they work together in common cause.

Both of these books include an abundance of online resources – there are opportunities for all of us to get involved, and to celebrate Earth Day every day.

— Kitsap Sun – The Bookmonger (July 2008)

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This beautiful and informative book fills a major gap in environmental writing for children. I’m impressed by the way it covers a wide range of research in different scientific fields, defining technical terms gracefully and naturally as they arise. The overall tone – urgent without being shrill, hopeful without being complacent – strikes me as just right. I would happily recommend it.

— Robert Coontz, editor of Science Review

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This is a necessary book. It treats kids with respect – they deserve to know what’s going on. But they also deserve to know that there’s much that can be done, and much that is being done. In a word, it’s empowering!

— Bill McKibben, author, The End of Nature and Deep Economy

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In spite of troubling predictions about Earth’s climate, many young people are addressing the problems in positive ways, according to Lynne Cherry, acclaimed author of 30-plus environmental books for children, whose latest book explores the science of global warming at an eighth-grade reading level.

The book, How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming (Dawn Publications, 2008), written with photojournalist Gary Braasch, was finished during Cherry’s tenure as the 2006 artist-in-residence at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and features many examples of young people and others involved in citizen science projects at Cornell and elsewhere.

The Lab of Ornithology hosts the world’s largest citizen science program, Project FeederWatch, involving more than 10,000 citizen birders who help track trends in bird populations each year. Such democratic forms of science, Cherry said, provide large-scale data that offer many clues about our changing climate.

Though a draft of the book was originally written during a 2002 residency at Princeton University, exposure to such citizen science projects at Cornell as the Nestwatch, BirdSleuth, Project Budbreak and Project FeederWatch led Cherry to revise the book with citizen science as a key theme. One section, for example, describes Stanford University ornithologist Terry Roots’ climate change research, which uses citizen science data from Cornell and elsewhere to study shifts in bird migrations.

“When you go into a residency, you don’t know what you are going to find, but when you are in that atmosphere of science, discovery and investigation, you are exposed to so much just by being there,” Cherry said about how her residency helped shape her book in new ways.

The book, richly illustrated with numerous color photographs, mostly by Braasch, describes the work of many of the world’s leading climate scientists, offers a macro look at ecology and temperature trends and suggests potential solutions and positive actions for all ages and provides resources.

The publisher offers a teacher’s guide with individual lessons corresponding to topics in Cherry’s book.

Cherry’s time at Cornell also inspired work on another book about the ivory-billed woodpecker, which Cornell ornithologists and others reported rediscovering in 2004. The book will feature Cherry’s signature artwork that appears in some of her other titles, including The Great Kapok Tree (1990), A River Ran Wild (1992), Flute’s Journey (1997) and How Groundhog’s Garden Grew (2003).

Currently, Cherry is producing a documentary about young people working for the environment, such as Girl Scouts in San Francisco who go door-to-door delivering compact fluorescent bulbs. The movie will focus on climate science and solutions that empower kids to reduce their carbon footprint and make a difference in the world, Cherry said.

— Chronicle Online, Cornell Univesity – Krishna Ramanujan (April 10, 2008)

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How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate, by Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch, is a beautifully presented collection of factual stories about scientists and children around the world who are taking action to research and remedy climate change. Braasch’s earlier work, Earth Under Fire, inspired Cherry to collaborate on a book for younger people. Tracking monarch migrations, bird species, and the date of buds bursting are some of the ways in which students are helping climatologists. This is ultimately a hopeful book, developed to show what is happening, how we know, and what we can do about it. A section called, “What You – And A Million Kids – Can Do” lists many practical, simple choices and actions kids can take to make a difference. This is an excellent resource for grades five to eight. A teachers guide by Carol L. Malnor is also available from the same publisher.

— Connect (www.synergylearning.org)(May/June 2008)

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Children of all ages will delight in this introduction to the science of climate change – a thrilling inspiration for one and all to get outdoors and experience the adventure of citizen science.

Thomas Lovejoy, tropical biologist and
President of the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment

They [Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch] did a fantastic job. Every text was fact-checked multiple times by the scientists who actually did the original studies (and it’s filled with Gary’s outstanding photos from around the world of global warming impacts.) Their book sticks to the facts, and isn’t too scary – it’s just realistic.

— Camille Parmesan (Scientist mentioned in How We Know… who studied range change of checkerspot butterfly)

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(Excerpt from review of Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World by Garry Braasch)
. . . Younger readers can learn about global warming in a more palatable form from the new book How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate. A collaboration between Braasch and children’s author Lynne Cherry, the book offers information drawn from Earth Under Fire, aimed at younger readers with a style that never talks down to them. How We Know gives readers a solid grounding in all the major climate issues – and offers visits to world hotspots, from tropical rainforests to the melting Arctic. Kids will especially appreciate the success stories of young climate activists.

— E: The Environmental Magazine – Josh McDaniel (March/April 2008)

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School is out. That means endless days of playing, swimming and, of course, reading!

Teachers know that the more students read during summer vacation – even if it is only one book (horrors!) – the easier the transition back into the classroom becomes once September rolls around.

Fortunately, there is no dearth of fascinating reading material to hold the interest of young readers of all ages.

Dawn Publications continues in its highly praised tradition of bringing children to a greater understanding and appreciation of all life and the universe with several new offerings.

. . . Also from Dawn is How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming by Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch.

This book presents what could be a complicated topic in a kid-friendly manner, and includes an extensive list of age-appropriate resources for the teacher, parent or child who wishes to expand his or her knowledge of this important subject.

— The Westfield Leader – Marylou Moreno (July 10, 2008)

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Two leading environmental authors, Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch, have come together to produce a new book for middle school-age children that explains climate science. How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate presents clear science and outstanding photos of the evidence from flowers, butterflies, frogs, trees, glaciers, ice cores, and much more, gathered by leading scientists all over the world.

— Environmental Education Week (April 2008)

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Do you keep hearing over and over again about Global Warming? I do, so I was attracted to this book. Unique pictures and scientific graphs make every page very appealing and informative. Usually any information about Global Warming is quite scary, but this book actually has a great deal of positive as well as fascinating facts.

Scientists work as detectives collecting data. They drill down into glaciers and study the bubbles of air trapped in ancient ice to find more information that can either prove or disprove an important hypothesis. The scientists let students and citizen scientists help collect data, too. Helpful, informative data comes from some really unique places. For example, from birds, flowers, butterflies, frogs, trees, penguins, and polar bears.

The book includes a great list of ways kids can easily do their part in helping take care of the planet. I plan to use the list to give Tomasita’s Student Council new ideas for recycling. This book was so educational it made me begin to think I may want to be a scientist.

— New Mexico Kids – Tyrell Trujillo, age 10 (Jan./Feb. 2009)

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How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming is a nonfiction science book for young people about a hot-button issue. Written with the assistance of top scientists in the field, How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate goes into depth on climate science. Though How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate is lavishly illustrated with full-color photographs throughout, its meticulous attention to detail and mere quantity of text is well beyond that of an ordinary picture book, making it best suited for young adults, teenagers and even curious adults. “Ornithologists were finding that birds were arriving earlier and changing their range – the places animals or plants can be found year after year. . . . But why, they wondered, were these changes happening?” Of particular interest is the final “What You – and a Million Kids – Can Do” section, which lists positive ways kids can help the environment and reduce their carbon footprint, such as recycling, using compact fluorescents instead of light bulbs, minimizing use of appliances and unplugging those not needed, eating less meat, buying less, and getting involved in the community. Highly recommended especially for public and school library collections.

— Midwest Book Review (April 2008)

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As the long-winded title of this book suggests, a serious study of global warming isn’t exactly a picture book. But don’t expect the subject matter to be a downer, either. Aspiring scientists will find ideas for experiments and suggestions for planet-friendly action in this informative book for 5th through 8th graders.

— The Green Life (Sierra Club online magazine)(Febrary 2009)

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For relevant, entertaining and beautiful environmentally based books for children of all ages, look no further than Dawn Publications. Dawn is dedicated to inspiring a deep understanding and appreciation in children for all life on Earth. . . . How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming by Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch, explains how scientists piece together Earth’s “climate history” from tree rings, mud cores, ice cores, and other sources. It compares this history with recent climate patterns and shows students how to make a difference by taking charge of your own “carbon footprint.”

A Teacher’s Guide to How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Lessons, Resources, and Guidelines for Teaching About Global Warming by Carol L. Malnor has activities that provide an excellent introduction to the study of climate and may be used to expand curriculum by sharpening the focus on relevant environmental issues.

— Arkansas Science Teacher’s Assn. Newsletter – Liz Fulton (Summer 2008)

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Bill McKibben calls this book “necessary” and “empowering.” “Necessary,” in the sense that children deserve to know how scientists study climate change and whate they are finding out about global warming. “Empowering” because of numerous examples of how children (and adults) all over the world can assist in data collection as well as the effort to achieve climate stabilization. Numerous full-color illustrations enhance the text. A teacher’s guide is available for grades 5-8. Also note another book from the same publisher, The Forever Forest about the efforts of children around the world to save a tropical rainforest.

— Light of Consciousness (Summer 2008)

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Award-wining photojournalist and author of Earth Under Fire, Gary Braasch, has teamed up with children’s environmental writer Lynne Cherry to create a book on the science behind the headlines on Climate Change. How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate shows how scientists track data on global warming and tells the stories of children all over the world that help collect this data.

The book is accompanied by a teacher’s guide with lesson plans for grades 5-8 that get students thinking about the knowledge behind global warming news and lets them take actions.

— Yes! Magazine – Education Connection newsletter (April 30, 2008)

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Discover the science behind the headlines – evidence from flowers, butterflies, birds, frogs, trees and more – that illustrates the changes caused by global warming. The book explains what young people can do to help.

— Learning Magazine (Fall 2008)

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The title is accurate. The authors survey a wide range of indications that Earth’s climate is changing. In his earlier Earth Under Fire, photojournalist Braasch visited climate researchers in the field to document their discoveries. Here he and Cherry (a seasoned author of environmental books for children) also spotlight citizen science and (especially) data that can be, and is, collected by children. They explain why data and computer models indicate that anthropogenic greenhouse gases are making our world warmer. Along the way, Cherry and Braasch remind readers of the importance of using data to test hypotheses. Reflecting the book’s hopeful perspective, the authors suggest numerous things that kids and families can do to reduce their climatic footprint.

— Science Books & Films Online (February 2009)

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Our world is currently experiencing a climate change. Many children have probably heard something about this issue, but with its complex and controversial nature, children probably dont fully understand what is happening. How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate is a very child friendly, easy-to-read book that helps readers better understand the climate crisis by giving solid evidence, such as bird migratory patterns and the melting icecaps, to explain what is happening. The scientists in this book work with kids to gather data, which is a great way to show students that they can help participate in real world scientific experiments. Great for readers ages 7 – 10.

— Oneota Journal – Decorah Public Library (Fall 2008)

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Lynne Cherry, co-Author of How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming
When the weather changes daily, how do we really know that Earth’s climate is changing? A groundbreaking new book for children explains the science behind the headlines, shows how young people are participating in gathering the scientific data, and tells what can be done to avert a crisis. The authors of How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climatereport on such a groundswell of activity by scientists and concerned people-including many children-that what could be a fearful or depressing book is, instead, an empowering book.

The evidence of climate change comes from observation over many years of the changing behavioral patterns of flowers, butterflies, birds, frogs, trees, glaciers, and much more. Some of this evidence was gathered by young people as long ago as 1900, in Nova Scotia, Canada. Scientists are making more and more of these observations, and the authors tell how young people in Siberia, Canada, Mexico, and throughout the U.S. are involved in such citizen science programs that support scientists in their climate research.

The authors explain how scientists piece together the Earth’s “climate history” from tree rings, mud cores, ice cores, and other sources; how this history compares with recent climate patterns; and how greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide-much of it human-made-are impacting climate. In addition to clearly presenting the underlying science, the authors explain how to take charge of one’s “carbon footprint”-also known as a “climate footprint.” The book graphically shows “what you-and a million kids”-can do to make a difference.

— Embracing the Child – Author of the Month (2008)

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Cherry takes aim at global warming information and scores a direct hit. She presents the data she has collected in various vignettes from size of glaciers and se level to the behaviors of butterflies and penguins. The data collected for this information packed title not only comes from scientists, but also naturalists, concerned citizens, and children. Readers will understand and support the theory that climate is changing, but finding the true cause is still very speculative.

The last portion of the book is devoted to an index, resources, a directory of scientists and suggestions on how to become involved in the process of conservation and making a change in the environment. This would make a very handsome and useful addition to any librarys collection.

— New Jersey Youth Services – Michaele Casey (October 2008)

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We’ve all heard of global warming, but how many of us really know the facts behind it all? When our weather changes, how can we really tell that the Earth’s climate is changing?

What I love about this book is that it presents all the evidence–evidence from flowers, butterflies, birds, frogs, trees, glaciers and much more gathered by scientists around the world. This non-scary (let’s admit it – the whole global warming thing can be a little frightening) book is action-oriented, and is an inspiring look at how scientists do their work, what they’re discovering about global warming and how kids really can make a difference.

The book focuses on students as an important part of the research teams assisting scientists in documenting the changes in our environment. Cherry explains how observation such as noting when birds first appear or when flowers begin to bloom can help bring about climate-change strategies. Students are featured gathering data about migrating birds and butterflies, the changing of the seasons, water quality and flow, tree growth, plant diversity and range, and frog populations.What a great idea to have your students or children learn about data and how they can help! She includes examples of how nature is changing such as migrations, melting ice caps and rising coastlines and how these changes have been observed. Then, she takes a look at what scientists do with their information. A great part of the book are the photographs that compare “now and then.” What better way to learn about the importance of observation by seeing what the Athabasca Glacier looked like in 1917 and what it looked like in 2005.

It’s attention to detail and the amount of text makes it best suited for young adults, but this hard to tackle information is laid out in a simple way for younger readers to understand. The combination of pictures and facts won’t have you feeling as though you’re reading a science book. It also won’t have you feeling as though the end of the world is coming tomorrow, but instead it offers ways that you can help scientists in the “What You-and a Million Kids-Can Do” section. Projects are featured along with their teachers and students. Suggestions are presented on how to reduce your carbon “footprint” or impact on the environment such as recycling, using compact fluorescents instead of light bulbs, minimizing use of appliances and unplugging those not needed, eating less meat, buying less, and getting involved in the community.

— Books For Kiddies (books4kiddies.blogspot.com) – Lori Calabrese (May 2009)

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Scientists and school kids are studying the changes in climate and offer encouraging suggestions how each of us can help preserve and protect our environment worldwide. See how you can join the cause!

— Great Books for Kids 2008 – Cuyahoga County Library

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Two leading environmental authors, Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch, have come together to produce a new book for middle school-age children that explains climate science. How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate presents clear science and outstanding photos of the evidence gathered by leading scientists all over the world.

— National Environmental Education Foundation (January 2010)

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Science is not just for scientists. That’s the premise of this excellent introduction to the science behind understanding climate change. The book argues for “citizen scientists,” and shows how young people throughout North America are collecting data to help describe our changing planet. How We Know… manages to be both sobering and hopeful – no small trick in these climate-scary times.

— Rethinking Schools Online (www.rethinkingschools.org) (Summer 2009)

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How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming contains lots of information illustrating that the climate is changing. Students, scientists and others are recording the seasons, observing birds, flowers and butterflies, studying the rain forest as well as trees, the tundra, glaciers, the ocean, carbon dioxide and other things to learn more about global warming. Besides information showing that the climate is going, there are chapters on how we can get involved to reduce global warming (“Taking Charge of Your ‘Climate Footprint’”, “The Power of Friends and Community” and “What You – and a Million Kids – Can Do.”) There is also a comprehensive “Resources” section which has lots of websites.

— Metroland North – Glenn Perrett (July 2009)