Why Are the Ice Caps Melting?: The Dangers of Global Warming

I used this book for a unit I taught recently on natural resources and conservation, and my second graders loved it! One of the few books on the subject geared toward younger children, this book does a great job of presenting global warming in simple, kid-friendly terms without distortion. The fun and accessible illustrations are very engaging; my students spent several minutes just examining the page with plankton and other sea life. They came away from the book with both a sense of urgency about the topic and the conviction that they can do something to help.

Global warming is a scary topic for a children's book, but one that children need to know about. In WHY ARE THE ICE CAPS MELTING, author Anne Rockwell writes about this topic in a voice that children can understand. Ms. Rockwell explains why the ice caps are melting, what global warming is, what the greenhouse effect is, and most important of all, she tells children what they can do to help stop this from happening. Written in a friendly, mentoring style, WHY ARE THE ICE CAPS MELTING will inform children while fostering a good attitude towards conservation and our environment. Illustrated with cute, but educational, pictures from talented artist Paul Meisel, WHY ARE THE ICE CAPS MELTING takes children on a journey that will affect them the rest of their lives. After all, we all share this planet, and will for the rest of our lives. Kudos to Ms. Rockwell for tackling such a tough subject and breaking it down to make it easily understandable to our most important audience! This book is an excellent resource, one that can easily be used to teach children basic science concepts about global warming.