5 books to make kids care about the climate, selected by comedian and author James Campbell

James Campbell’s pick of the books to pique an early interest for younger readers in the climate emergency.

The Lorax by Dr Seuss 

Dr Seuss’s wonderful story tells of how the Once-ler’s greed and stupidity leads people to chop down all the truffula trees in the land. But there is one who speaks for trees! And can one person make a difference? 

Old Enough to Save the Planet by Loll Kirby, illustrated by Adelina Lirius

This book is perfect for inspiring kids to become climate campaigners. Similar to my book, in that at the back there is a list of things they can do. Which is what we need – actual action! 

Song of the Dolphin Boy by Elizabeth Laird 

When Finn dives in to swim with dolphins he feels surprisingly at home. This is a thrilling and heart-wrenching adventure about plastic pollution and environmental crises. 

Floodland by Marcus Sedgwick

I was privileged to spend an evening with the much-missed Marcus a few years ago and Floodland is one of his best books. It imagines that global warming has caused the sea levels to rise so much that most of England is under water. It shows how dramatically the climate crisis may change our world if we don’t do something to stop it. 

Curse Of The Dearmad by Emma Mylrea

This is an intriguing story which, on the surface, is about a world in which mer-people called gillies mix with regular folk. Pollution is causing their gills to be infected and an intrepid group set out to the only place that might have the answer. An adventure story with subtle hints of climate change and environmental disaster. It has a great plot and characters.

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Don’t Panic! We Can Save the Planet by James Campbell with illustrations by Rob Jones is out on 15 February (Bloomsbury, £7.99)

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