Nonfiction Monday: Wangari's Trees of Peace

Wangari's Trees of Peace: A True Story From Africa. Jeanette Winter. 2008. Harcourt. 32 pages.

Wangari lives under an umbrella of green trees in the shadow of Mount Kenya in Africa.
She watches the birds in the forest where she and her mother go to gather firewood for cooking.
And she helps harvest the sweet potatoes, sugarcane, and maize from the rich soil.

Wangari Maathai is an environmentalist who won in the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. This book is the story of how she started a movement in her own country by planting just nine seedlings. After returning to her country--after attending school in America--Wangari was saddened by the loss of trees. She hated seeing what the lack of trees was doing to the environment, the community, the village. She wanted everything to be green again. What can one woman do? Well, for one thing get other women involved too! By working together they can make a difference!


© Becky Laney of Young Readers