Title: Plastic Soup
Author: Judith Koppens and Andy Engel
Release Date: 28 July 2020
Number of Pages: 32
Review: Thank you, Clavis Publishing and Net Galley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Plastic Soup is a story about a group of animal friends that decide to spend the day at the beach. When Frog and Fox go swimming, they discover that there’s plastic in the ocean and that the plastic doesn’t make swimming very much fun. They bring some of the plastic back to show their friends, and Hedgehog says that they saw something in a magazine about how a lot of plastic ends up in the ocean, turning it into a plastic soup. The animals agree that plastic soup is not a good thing, and they wonder what they can do to help. The animals decide that they should start using less plastic, and to reuse the plastic that they do use, so it doesn’t end up in the oceans.
I love that this book teaches kids about plastic pollution and the environment. This is a simple book, and it doesn’t go into many details about complex environmental issues, but I think it’s a great way to start a conversation with kids about the environment. I think this book can lead to a lot of great discussions about ways we can use less plastic, and I think the message is presented in a simple enough way that everyone can understand. I also loved that this book has a DIY at the end so that kids can make their own reusable grocery bags.
I liked the illustrations in this book, and I loved all of the different animal friends. I thought it was cute that the first page of the book (probably the end pages, but I’m using a digital copy) featured all of the different characters and had a little line about each of them. I loved the full-colour illustrations and the little details like the hermit crab that’s just hanging out in the sand.
Overall, I thought this picture book was fantastic. I love picture books that teach important lessons, and protecting the environment is one of the most important lessons of all. I think this book can lead to some great discussions, and it is definitely worth the read.
Rating: 5 Stars!