Green City: How One Community Survived a Tornado and Rebuilt for a Sustainable Future

In 2007, a tornado destroyed Greensburg, Kansas, and the residents were at a loss as to what to do next―they didn't want to rebuild if their small town would just be destroyed in another storm. So they decided they wouldn't just rebuild the same old thing; this time, they would build a town that could not only survive another storm, but one that was built in an environmentally sustainable way. Told from the point of view of a child whose family needed to rebuilt after the storm, this is the inspiring addition to the author’s acclaimed series about actual everyday communities going green includes plenty of rebuilding scenes and details for construction lovers, too!

Review:
This story of hope follows the real-life journey of the town of Greensburg, Kansas after a tornado devastates the entire town. Instead of giving up, the community gathers together to rebuild the town using the latest in green and sustainable technology. This results in Greensburg becoming a model of sustainability for the rest of the nation.
Critique:
Overall, this informational text is incredibly fascinating and provides interesting detail about the latest in sustainable architecture and technology. In addition to the narrative of the story, the author also includes practical advice that readers can take to live more environmentally friendly. The only critique for this book is that the pictures are not very detailed. Since most of show more the text was descriptive, it would have been more engaging to have either more detailed drawings or pictures of the technology being described.
Use:
1. One way to utilize this book would be to read it out loud during a lesson on sustainability. Once students know what sustainability is, they can identify the different ways the town of Greensburg are being green. Following that, they can brainstorm different ways they see sustainability in their own town.
2. Another way to use this text would be to pair it with a lesson on engineering. After being presented with the plight of Greensburg, students can work in groups design buildings that would be able to withstand a natural disaster such as a tornado.
Age Appropriateness: Intermediate, Middle School
Media: pen and watercolor show less

GREEN CITY by Allan Drummond is an informational picture book exploring how one community survived a tornado and rebuilt their community.

Based on a real event, this inspiring picture book tells the story of the small town of Greensburg Kansas was struck by a tornado. When the community began planning for reconstruction, they decided to build in an environmentally sustainable way including reclaimed lumber, wind-resistant buildings, and green energy sources.

Sidebars throughout the book highlight key elements of green construction and sustainable building practices. The book concludes with an author’s note, tips for going green, and source notes.

Librarians will find this book to be an excellent introduction to the idea of sustainable show more communities. Use this book as a springboard for inquiry-based learning. Ask youth to explore an aspect of green construction of interest. Provide access to books focusing on specific practices such as alternative energy sources to jumpstart their investigations.

To learn more about the author, go to http://allandrummond.com.

Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan on March 15, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher. show less

This book is all about Greensburg Kansas and how the city rebuilt themselves into a sustainable and more environmentally friendly place after a tornado caused major devastation to the whole city.
This book would be great for 4th or 5th grade learning about sustainable practices
I would use this book to teach students about how they can be more sustainable because the book gives many practical examples for doing so.

Interesting and inspirational story. I'm not sure that a children's picture book format is the best choice for the information though. Maybe something geared for grade school non fiction instead?

A tornado struck Greensburg, Kansas in 2007 and this book is about a family trying to navigate what it is like to clean up the rubble and live with the disaster. The whole town gets together to discuss how to go about cleaning up the rubble. The little boy who is narrating the story talks about how everybody was evacuated from the town and had to live somewhere else while Greensburg was getting cleaned up. The book talks about how to rebuild the city using "green" materials. It talks about how to go green...what that looks like. In the end, the city was rebuilt better than it was before.

Possible science topic: Environmental awareness, Going green

An informative picture book that would be great for older readers because they can learn about Green City through illustrations and shorter passages. Definitely a lot of information to take in. Great information about building green. A book that would be a good addition to a unit on storms, disasters, weather, ecology, or Earth Day.