Wangari’s Trees of Peace is a picture book written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter. The book is a true story about Wangari Maathai, set in Kenya. As a child she grew up around trees, and went off to university, but years later when she returned home, she was shocked to see whole forests being cut down, and knew that soon all the trees would be destroyed. So she started planting trees again, and got many women to start planting trees again too. Although some people are against her positive change, it doesn’t stop her. Soon, all of Kenya turned green again and there were trees once more, and she even won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her efforts. I really enjoyed this book! I think that Wangari is a great role model for many people and myself to make a positive change in their community, even if it’s just making a small change like planting trees. I also loved the illustrations, they were very colorful. Overall, I’d rate this book 5/5 and would definitely recommend this to a friend.

The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau is a picture book written and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino. As a young man, he had a passion for the ocean and what lived under the oceans waves. He wanted to share the oceans beauty with the world, so he found ways to invent new things, film underwater, and created the first underwater film movie, which became very popular. Since then, he has produced fifty books, two encyclopedias, dozens of documentary films, a hugely popular TV show, and started the Cousteau Society, which is committed to educating people ocean life and keeping the ocean clean. One connection I made with this is how that the ocean is definitely getting much more polluted than it should be. There has been lots of wildlife dying and plastic in the ocean. The world has become more alert of this problem and just like Jacques Cousteau started the Cousteau Society, there are so many more organizations raising money and educating people on what’s going on, and creating a much more positive change in the world through media and through teachings. A connection I have to myself with this book is how I’ve always really loved exploring the ocean and snorkeling. I can definitely see how many people around the world also appreciate the oceans natural wonders, like me, which makes me really happy. The last connection is one that I have to a different book, about a girl who is passionate about jellyfish, called The Thing about Jellyfish. She wanted to travel the world researching jellyfish and make a conscious effort in helping the ocean, and I felt that these two books were quite similar. Overall, I think that this book was amazing, and just like many people are doing now Jacques Cousteau will continue to inspire people to protect our ocean. I would rate this book five stars and definitely wouldn’t mind reading it again.