Picture Books — Review

Sandy's Incredible Shrinking Footprint

by Femida Handy and Carole Carpenter
illustrated by Adrianna Steele-Card
Second Story Press, 2010
ISBN 978-1-897187-69-2
$15.95, hardcover, colour illustrations, ages 5 – 9
www.secondstorypress.ca

This charming picture book tells the story of how Sandy learns the meaning of "footprint" in the ecological sense, and determines to shrink her own footprint by reusing, recycling and reducing. Her teacher is a woman Sandy encounters on the beach near her grandparents' home. At first Sandy is afraid of the Garbage Lady who roams the beach picking up junk, but then she realizes that they share a disgust at the mess that other people have left behind, and they work together to clean it up. Sandy is inspired by the woman's gentle lesson, and she returns to her parents and grandparents full of enthusiasm and ideas for how they could all shrink their footprints. The illustrations are collages of natural and recycled materials, which could inspire the integration of art and science units in the classroom. An author's note at the end of the story lists twelve suggestions for ways that readers can shrink their own footprints.

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