How to Talk to Your Kids About Climate Change
Turning Angst into Action
- 2020 INDIES Finalist
- Finalist, Family & Relationships (Adult Nonfiction)
It’s easy to feel anxious and overwhelmed about the accelerating impacts of climate change. Parents face even more angst about what kind of Anthropocene apocalypse lies ahead for their children. Harriet Shugarman’s How to Talk to Your Kids about Climate Change addresses these concerns with thoughtful ideas for channeling feelings into positive activism.
Clear and persuasive, the book communicates complex issues and the urgency of acting with a mix of passion, diplomacy, and steel-eyed determination. Shugarman is the executive director of Climate Mama, and the organization’s three core axioms are present in her work, underscoring the need to acknowledge, but then push through, fears about climate chaos, armed with resiliency. The book expresses hope that there is still time to mitigate environmental damage and to transition to more socially just and sustainable economies.
Specific, age-appropriate ideas for reassuring and educating children about climate issues are delineated. These are followed up with an extensive resource list of books, climate action groups, websites, and news sources. There is a useful range of suggested projects that parents can undertake with their children as they move toward direct action, from organizing student strikes and plastics collections at schools to having family discussions about rethinking savings and financial investments.
Sidebars quoting other climate change activists and historic figures result in different perspectives about teaching children about the natural world and the importance of environmental action. The book notes that children’s honesty makes them trusted messengers and activists, and it is quick to laud Greta Thunberg and other young environmental leaders for their impressive roles in affecting public awareness and change.
How to Talk to Your Kids About Climate Change is an inspiring toolkit for helping families, communities, and the planet.
Reviewed by
Rachel Jagareski
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
