As a young girl growing up in Kenya, Wangari was surrounded by trees. But years later when she returns home, she is shocked to see
whole forests being cut down, and she knows that soon all the trees will be destroyed. So Wangari decides to do something—and starts by
planting nine seedlings in her own backyard. And as they grow, so do her plans. . . .

This true story of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is a shining example of
how one woman’s passion, vision, and determination inspired great change.

"Nobel Peace Prize–winner Wangari Maathai’s work to reverse the deforestation of Kenya garners Winter’s signature treatment: a spare, reverential text and stylized, reductionist paintings. The present-tense narration posits Wangari’s thoughts and inserts unattributed quotations: “Will all of Kenya become a desert? she wonders as her tears fall.” “The government men laugh. ‘Women can’t do this,’ they say.” Wangari is imprisoned for her actions, but while she is textually and visually depicted in jail and then on the next spread free within the treed landscape, the text makes no mention of her release. Possibly most egregious in this day and age is the image of Wangari standing within an undifferentiated Africa while to the north, Europe is depicted with rudimentary national boundaries. While the effort of producing an intelligible picture-book biography for young children inevitably involves the selection of just a small number of details, this sere distillation is arguably more inspiring story than biography. For a contrast in depth and documentation, see Claire A. Nivola’s recent Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai (2008). (author’s note) (Picture book/biography. 4-7)" www.kirkusreviews.com

This brightly illustrated picture book tells the story of Nobel Prize winner and environmentalist Wangari Maathai and her quest to restore trees to Kenya. Author’s Note about the Green Belt Movement.

This book follows the true story of Wangari, an activist from Kenya who created the Greenbelt movement in response to the deforestation within her community. She grew up with lots of trees and animals in her village, but as she grew older and went away she came back to the exact opposite. She inspired woman in her village to plant trees all over to replace the damage from deforestation. I think this is such a cool book to incorporate into teaching. It follows a true story of a woman activist who inspired other woman in her community to rise up against the government against deforestation. She planted over 30 million trees in Kenya and helped women get payed for the first time in their lives. I think that this can be incorporated as a social justice piece within a classroom while talking about the impacts that civilization has on the environment. ( )

This is a fabulous story about an important woman in history, Wangari Maathai. She grew up in Kenya among the green trees and rich soil for gardening. She was an excellent student and earned a scholarship to college in America. She earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree in the biological sciences. When she returned to Kenya after college, the land was completely changed. The trees were gone and the land was barren. Trees had been cleared to build and new trees had not been planted. Instead of being discouraged and hopeless, Wangari decided to take action. She began planting new seedlings and as they began growing, she inspired other women to do the same. Even when they were ridiculed by men, they continued to plant. The idea spread and other villages began planting as well. As building continued, she began fighting to preserve trees and parks. Even as she found herself in jail, women continued planting until there were 30 million trees where once there were none. Wangari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 because of her action.