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Saving Nature (Adventures with Buku)

By Alicia Carbo-Guha

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    A good message on environmentalism for kids but needs to be repackaged better to get the message across.

    Synopsis

    Malena, Oli, and Samu have heard grown-ups talking about the environment, but they don’t really understand what it all means. When a little robot, Buku, appears on their porch, it transports them to a fantasy world. Buku shows them what is hurting Earth. “What can we do to help?” the children ask Buku. In a flash, the robot takes them to meet a group of children and their wonderful blue tree. Working together, they will find all the answers they need.

    In this dashing adventure, the three children discover many things about their own world. They learn why it’s important to protect nature, why the environment is critical for their own future, and how they, as children, can do things better to preserve the beauty in their world.

    With beautiful illustrations, Saving Nature offers children a way to understand a difficult and confusing topic. Alicia Carbo-Guha gives children the means to comprehend what is happening to our planet and offers parents an opportunity to talk to their kids about the environment and nature.

    Environmentalism is an excellent topic to be taught to kids. Especially in this day and age, when climate change is one of Earth’s biggest problems, kids need to be aware of the harm the environment is subjected to and how they can be a driving force in reducing that.


    The book has a clear message at the outset, but as you read along, it sort of gets disjointed.


    The first problem with the story is that the actual plot begins on page 14. Till then, you are introduced to characters, and the story is being set up. This could have been done in a page or two. The second problem is that the ending is so abrupt. There is a two-page list of common environmental problems and solutions that look like a brochure for a climate change presentation. And finally, the illustrations. They are colourful and thus, eye-catching but could have been much better.


    What could improve the book and make it more meaningful? Apart from the illustrations, every problem could have been explained in two pages–one page for the problem and another for the solution–allowing them to be fleshed out and made more meaningful. This will make children understand the concepts being taught. The illustrations can be greatly improved.


    Also, the book ends with a bizarre solution to a problem that, in actuality, causes more harm than good. The author says that it is better to build a ladder and pluck fruit than throw a stone and get them down. This is to ensure the tree doesn’t ‘get hurt.’ Building a ladder requires wood for which a tree should be chopped, which is counterintuitive.


    I may sound nit-picky about a children’s book, but it has to be presented properly when the topic is so important. Saving Nature has its heart in the right place, but the illustrations and narrative need a serious facelift. 


    Reviewed by
    Nnenna Dekker

    I got into reading quite late, but now I'm hooked on for life. I read to be happy and I write to be happy because, for me, happiness is books.

    Saving Nature (Adventures with Buku)

    Written by Alicia Carbo-Guha

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    Synopsis

    Malena, Oli, and Samu have heard grown-ups talking about the environment, but they don’t really understand what it all means. When a little robot, Buku, appears on their porch, it transports them to a fantasy world. Buku shows them what is hurting Earth. “What can we do to help?” the children ask Buku. In a flash, the robot takes them to meet a group of children and their wonderful blue tree. Working together, they will find all the answers they need.

    In this dashing adventure, the three children discover many things about their own world. They learn why it’s important to protect nature, why the environment is critical for their own future, and how they, as children, can do things better to preserve the beauty in their world.

    With beautiful illustrations, Saving Nature offers children a way to understand a difficult and confusing topic. Alicia Carbo-Guha gives children the means to comprehend what is happening to our planet and offers parents an opportunity to talk to their kids about the environment and nature.

    Saving Nature (Adventures with Buku)

    Written by Alicia Carbo-Guha

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    About the author

    Originally from Barcelona in Spain, Alicia Carbo-Guha is an author/illustrator of children's books who now lives in Toronto, Canada. She wrote and illustrated _Saving Nature_ to help children understand why it's vital to protect our environment and that they have a responsibility in saving nature. view profile

    Published on May 11, 2021

    2000 words

    Worked with a Reedsy professional 🏆

    Genre:Picture Books

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