Jen Cullerton Johnson

This debut picture biography, idealized and inspiring, draws on Wangari Maathai’s autobiographical writing to present an overview of the activist’s life from childhood to the present. Johnson sows her narrative with botanical metaphors: “Her mind was like a seed rooted in rich soil, ready to grow.” The mugumo tree symbolizes Kenya’s transition from agrarian bounty to environmental precipice: It yields figs for humans and animals yet bows to destruction as multinational corporations show more raze forests to profit from coffee plantations. Richer than other treatments of Maathai for children and more grounded in her work’s implicit feminism, this details her education in Nairobi and the United States, her imprisonment for activism and her scientific and environmental work, resulting in the planting of 30,000,000 trees and economic empowerment for Kenyan women. Sadler’s beautiful scratchboard illustrations incise white contoured line into saturated landscapes of lush green leaf patterns, brilliant-hued textiles and undulating, stylized hills. Maathai always wears a colorful headscarf or fabric bow, and the community spirit she resuscitates is joyfully celebrated on every spread. Vibrant and accomplished. (author’s note, sources, quotation sources) (Picture book biography. 6-11)

-Kirkus Review show less

From the time she was a young girl, and her mother explained the importance of the mugumo trees to the Kikuyu people, Wangari Maathai had felt a deep connection to the natural world around her, and to its trees. A bright, curious child, she received the atypical benefit of an education - something denied most girls in Kenya - and won a scholarship to a college in the USA. It was upon her return to Kenya after school, and her discovery of the widespread deforestation of the country, that she show more began her historic effort to educate her people - and specifically, the women - about the benefit of planting and maintaining healthy trees. It was the beginning of what would come to be called the Green Belt Movement, and the start of life as an activist who would one day be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

One of four picture-book biographies devoted to Wangari Maathai's story - others include Claire A. Nivola's Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai and Jeanette Winter's Wangari's Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa, which I have read, and Donna Jo Napoli's Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya, which I have not - Seeds of Change is a wonderful book, both informative and beautiful. Well written and engaging, with gorgeous artwork, it is by far my favorite, of the children's books on this topic that I have read. Highly recommended, to all young tree-lovers, environmentalists, and would-be activists. show less

The second Mama Miti picture book biography I've read, this one is more of a traditional informational narrative than the book Mama Miti was, and it shows a much more revealing portrait of the woman that shared trees with the women of Kenya as a means of peace and ecological change in the country. A very well told story, this would pair nicely with the other biographies of Wangari Maathai. This might pair well also with a comparison to John Chapman, since he is such a prominent figure in so show more many American curriculums. show less

Prominent female African environmentalist, political activist, and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wangari Maathai’s story is told in this picture book biography. A comprehensive narration of Wangari’s life beginning with her childhood in Kenya, to pursuing her education, and through the obstacles she overcame in her efforts to promote women’s rights as well as preserving the land by planting trees. Written almost poetically, with beautiful metaphors throughout, Johnson manages to balance show more the telling of facts in a captivating way. The colorful and radiant illustrations mimic Wangari’s optimistic and bright outlook of hope and change. Seeds of Change covers themes of persistence, commitment, and how small ideas can grow and make big differences. Suitable for upper elementary grades and allows for a range of application – Earth Day and caring for our planet, female scientists, biographies, women’s rights, and life in Africa. show less