Africa South of the Sahara
South Africa
A Good Day for Climbing Trees
By Jaco Jacobs, Kobus Geldenhuys (Translator), Jim Tierney (Illustrator)
A Good Day for Climbing Trees. Jaco Jacobs. Translated by Kobus Geldenhuys. Illustrated by Jim Tierney. Rock the Boat, 2018. Originally published as ‘n Goeie dag vir boomklim in Afrikaans by Lapa, in South Africa, in 2015. ISBN 9781786073174. 160 p. (Ages 8-12). Fiction.
Marnus lives in the shadow of his two brothers until he meets a girl with a petition. Joining forces with Leila, the two inspire their town by fighting to save a tree. Nominated for the 2019 CILIP Carnegie Medal and selected one of the Spectator Best Books of the Year. [gd]
India
Savi and the Memory Keeper
By Bijal Vachharajani
Savi and the Memory Keeper. Bijal Vachharajani. Hachette India Children’s Books, 2021. First published in India. Also available in a US edition from Blackstone Publishing, Oregon, 2023. ISBN 9789391028015. 242 p. (Ages 10 and up). Fiction.
Savi has recently lost her father and has to move to a new city because of pollution. She finds an ally in a ficus tree in her school, who tells her stories. A story about personal grief layered with issues about climate change, Savi and the Memory Keeper asks its readers to view the natural world through a different lens. Would pair with A Snake Falls to Earth by Darci Little Badger. The author is based in Bengaluru, Karnataka region of India. She is the senior editor at Pratham Books and has a Masters in Environment Security and Peace from the University of Peace in Costa Rica. Vachharajani is part of the Nalada Abhiyan Library Campaign, a movement to set up community libraries across India. She has written multiple planet friendly books. The book has won the AutHer Award (2023) and the Green Lit Fest-WWF Honor List (2022). Here is a short interview with the author. [mi]