George Saves the World Before Lunchtime

Jo Readman (text)

Ley Honor Roberts (illus)

Random House, UK: 2006

ISBN: 9781903919507

Genre: picture book

Issues: conservation, environmental awareness, global warming, recycling, sustainability

An Eden Project book - see www.edenproject.com

When George, spending Saturday with his grandfather, decides that he is a superhero and going to save the world, he doesn't mean it quite the same way Grandpa does. But it turns out that Grandpa's way of saving the world can be quite a lot of fun, as well as being good for the planet.

Hanging out the washing might be a pretty boring thing for a superhero to do but it does save on electricity. And gardening is fun, as is riding a bike instead of using a car.

Although strongly pushing the ‘reduce, reuse, repair, recycle' ethos, this is still a very readable picture book with a valid narrative. The illustrations are a clever montage of collaged ‘found' objects, photographs and cartoon-style images, making the pictures brightly coloured and highly tactile.
Most double-page spreads have a right-hand border that gives practical suggestions and simple facts to encourage the readers to adopt ‘greener' practices. Endpapers consist of ‘George's Tips for Saving the World' and include images from the book as well as others that will encourage even very young readers to share ideas.

Highly recommended.