Our House Is on Fire: Greta
Thunberg’s Call to Save the Planet
By Jeanette Winter
Beach Lane Books, an Imprint of
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, 2019
Greta was 15 when her teacher talked to the class about the climate. She
taught them that the planet is getting warmer, the polar ice is melting, and
life on Earth is threatened.
Greta started reading for hours and watching films, educating
herself about the warming world. She became more and more upset. She thought, “Our house is on fire!”
Would there be a world to live in when she grew up? She wondered what she
could do.
She decided to go on strike from school to call attention to the problem.
She would skip school every Friday and sit on the steps of the Swedish
Parliament building with a sign. Her parents supported her.
She sat on the steps every Friday, no matter the weather.
Then word of the strike began to spread. Other children
joined her. On Fridays, the Stockholm schools became almost empty.
The media began talking about the strikes, and word spread through
cyberspace.
Greta was asked to speak at the United Nations climate talks in Poland.
She had always been very quiet and kept to herself. But she cared so much about
this issue that she accepted the invitation.
“You say you love your children above all else, and yet you are stealing
their future in front of their very eyes,” she said.
She was invited to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
She spoke because she thought she needed to speak.
“I don’t want you to be hopeful,” she said. “I want you to panic. I want
you to feel the fear I feel every day … I want you to act as if the house was
on fire. Because it is.”
Greta’s protest sparked a worldwide children’s march. “Her quiet voice,
joined by thousands of voices, became a roar,” writes Winter.
Winter’s colorful illustrations bring the story to life.
This book will teach youngsters about climate change and pique their
interest because they see what a big difference one young person can make.
This week Greta has again made the national news for speaking out at the
United Nations Climate Summit in New York. She chastised world leaders for not
doing enough about climate change. “How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and
my childhood with your empty words.”
About the Author and Illustrator
Jeanette
Winter is an American author and
illustrator, best known for her children's books, many of which are about
notable women in history, especially artists. She is particularly known for her painted illustration style,
which uses flat planes of color and "uncluttered" compositions, a
style which has drawn comparisons to the folk art tradition. She lives in
New York City.
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