Should a Picture Book Teach About the Apocalypse?

Books have a responsibility to teach. That's all this is. It's a tool.
Is the dichotomy too much? A picture book.... about the end of the world... it's teaching consequence...

There are consequences to mistreating the environment, and children need to be taught that. I know they hear about it at school and learn which leaves are which, and that frogs eat bugs, and bees are important pollinators, but that's just stating the obvious. What about opening the class with - What if there were no more frogs or bees or trees? How about that for an entrance? Then you explain the negative effects of losing trees like: no more oxygen, or if the bee's disappear: no more fruits and vegetables. Lead with the frightening possibilities of a world without, and then get into how to make sure none of that stuff ever happens.

Get them interested in sustainable living at an early age, because if they don't practice it... scary shit's going to happen. I don't have a problem with scaring them straight on environmental awareness. It's for their own good - for everyone and everything's good who enjoy breathing oxygen and drinking fresh water.

An Angry Earth is the first of its kind to teach about an apocalyptic end via a picture book. It gives the worst case scenario. It also does so with graphic pen and ink illustrations. The author/illustrator is not going to offer a rainbow of colours to keep your attention, no. He's offering you a chance to understand the consequences of your actions or inactions where our environment is concerned. So pick up a copy and read through it. If you want your kids to read it, give it to them. If nothing else, it will make them think, and maybe even ask you questions about what they can do to prevent an apocalyptic end.

An Environmentally Charged Picture Book for the Apocalypse?

Is it okay to talk about the environment? Are we all on the same side on this issue? Do we all accept that humanity’s’ role in climate change is indisputable? The truth is we’re not all on the same page and that can be attributed to lack of education or ignorance or both. Whatever the reason, whichever argument you support, it won’t change the end we’re spiraling towards. Not if you don’t change.

A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. That logic applies to climate change as well. We managed to alter the planet’s CO2 content, and that didn’t happen overnight. We managed to poison rivers and lakes and uproot our rain forests. All of that began with a single step. A step in the wrong direction.  One fueled by greed. We’ve made the mess we’re in, and we can clean it up. We have the technologies. We have the will. What happened to the survival instinct? Do you really believe money is the key to survival? Air and water are our keys to survival and we’ve poisoned both. We continue to poison them through oil and gas line ruptures all over the world, dumping toxins into our soil, oceans and fresh water. How, if we have any interest in surviving as a species, can we allow this to continue when there are alternatives to fossil fuels?

Re-training the industries which are destroying our ability to live on this planet is key. Jobs are necessary. People can be re-trained in sustainable energy manufacturing. Life needn’t change, only perspectives and education. It’s not too late, or maybe it is. Maybe we should resign ourselves to accept our fate.

Books like An Angry Earth give children and parent’s alike a taste of what’s to come if we continue on this path of deliberate destruction. An Angry Earth is a tale which ends in tragedy on a global scale. Learn from it and teach your children that if they continue to pollute the planet as their fathers and grandfather’s and great grandfather’s have, their children will not grow up. Teach them to live sustainably. To pick up litter. To recycle. To compost. Teach them to garden. The more involved they are with nature, the better they will understand why She is worth saving. For Her, for the animals and the insects, and for us.

An Angry Earth tells it like it is. And it tells it with tastefully illustrated pages which makes the book cool for kids and adults alike. There is currently a Trailer for the book available now, and the book itself can be purchased via Amazon.

Also find the author on Goodreads.