A Climate In Chaos

Blog Tour Post written by Samantha Thomas

As the FCBG celebrate NSSM with the theme The Planet We Share this May it seems incredibly fitting to take up a stop on the A Climate In Chaos Virtual Blog Tour to celebrate this latest title by Neal Layton. Published by Hachette (Wren & Rook) the book sets out to inform the younger generation of readers what exactly climate change is, and quite importantly how they can help to protect the planet and reduce the damage being caused to the environment and the planet we share.

This book features large illustrations on each page, dominating the readers attention as they read through this informative title, and the combination of a picture book format and that of a non-fiction publication ensures younger audiences will feel immersed and engaged with this book. Neal previously published A Planet Full of Plastic in 2019 which explained the properties of the man-made material and the issues they create, focusing on how it never biodegrades. Both of these titles are hugely relevant to current environmental issues the world faces and intend to inform younger readers of these concerns the planet has by breaking down the information so that they can understand the terminology being used around them, feel a part of the conversation, and make changes to their behaviours and lifestyles to benefit the planet – Greta Thunberg would be proud!

To quote A Climate in Chaos directly ‘ Ultimately, we need to think about how us humans can treat the planet better by changing how we live’, a sentence that sums up the intentions of Neal Layton perfectly when he set about creating this book to educate the younger generation in aspects of climate change so that they make relevant changes and informed choices going forward, understanding the importance of both.

Towards the end of the book there are five suggestions for children as to how they can help reduce climate change, which are as follows :

1. Reduce, reuse and repair. Instead of buying new things, mend and reuse your old things.
2. Walk or Cycle as much as possible. And if your family does need to travel in a conventional car, try to fill up all the seats by offering lifts to other people.
3. Turn off your televisions, phone chargers and other electrical appliances when you aren’t using them. Leaving them on standby uses almost as much power as when they’re fully switched on!
4. Eat your greens rather than lots of meat. You don’t need to cut out meat completely – how about leaving meat out of your meats for one or two days each week?
5. Keep learning about climate change and talk to your family and friends about it. If everyone understands what is happening we can work together to find solutions.

There certainly is lots to think about in this book, and it is bound to create lots of much needed conversations between families and friends of those that benefit from having access to it, much like the content this month on the FCBG blog for NSSM, all of which is centred around the theme The Planet We Share.

A Climate in Chaos is written by Neal Layton, and publishes on 14th May 2020 by Hachette. The Virtual Book Blog Tour continues so be sure to check out the other stops on the tour.