Connect with nature

Why do we need to concern ourselves with environmental issues? Here are four books that give you an answer.

Read and get inspired

With World Environment Day coming up tomorrow, this is a time to reaffirm our commitment to conserving our natural resources and ensuring that future generations do not face a depleted and unliveable planet. One way to learn about the environmental problems we are facing and what we can do as individuals is to read. Here are four books that offer a glimpse into various issues plaguing us today.

PS What’s Up With The Climate? Written by Bijal Vachharajani, Illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan, Pratham Books, Rs65.

PS What’s Up With The Climate?

E very time it rains when it shouldn’t, we hear someone say, “Climate Change!” Forest fires, temperatures rising in some places and falling in others, melting ice and rising seas… climate change is felt by all living creatures on the planet. Not just by humans.

PS What’s Up With The Climate? , written in the form of letters, takes you from one polar cap to the other with stops in between, as the Sulking Snow Leopard, Too Warm Penguin, and the Hungry and Upset Grizzly Bear tell you about the problems they are facing.

My Big Book of Earth, edited by Geetha Dharmarajan, Katha Books, Rs120.

My Big Book of Earth

Life on Earth is interlinked but human actions have taken no note of the connections. My Big Book of Earth brings together information, verses and stories to show why humans need to be aware of the ecological links that make up our lives.

Whether it is a song from the Rig Veda or a verse by the ancient Tamil poet Avvaiyar or legends about how the Earth was formed, the book talks about issues of overuse of resources and deforestation but also highlights how youngsters are working to reverse this.

When I Grow Up I Want to Be A Tiger; Prerna Singh Bindra, Speaking Tiger Books, Rs.299

When I Grow Up I Want to Be A Tiger

Hear first-hand from T-Cub about what it’s like to be a tiger in the forests of India. To live amid other animals, how to hunt… One day, his mother disappears. What will T-Cub and his sister do?

As you read T-Cub’s story, learn about problems that beset our forests — poaching, deforestation, extinction and more. Find out why tigers need so much space to survive and why we should ensure that they all that they need. Also learn what you can do, as an individual, to help save our forests and why you should act.

The Water Catchers, Bhairavi Prakash, Hachette, Rs.299

The Water Catchers

Water scarcity is a common problem today, whether you live in a city or a rural area. This is a book that highlights this issue through the story of Chintu, a young boy from Mumbai, who goes to his ancestral village to help the people there find water. There, he meets Maahi who has some mysterious powers, and seems to be connected to the prophecies his grandfather talked about. Does Chintu manage to find water for Tintodan? What about the conservation competition he has entered?

Learn about the various water-related projects in India and the people working to conserve this precious resource. Find out what water scarcity means for the cities and villages of India and the importance of taking an active role in conservation.