Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees by Franck Prevot (June 2019)
This children’s book about the late Wangari Maathai traces her journey from a simple nature loving childhood to the work that would eventually earn her a Nobel Peace Prize. Though known primarily for her environmental work, her achievements as a social and political activist are equally notable. Her work proved a critical fulcrum for expanding access to basic rights and resources for Kenya’s underprivileged groups, particularly women, and her legacy lives on in anyone who sees the critical link between sustainability and social justice.
As the book notes, a tree is worth more than its wood. In addition to its basic physical features such as shade for poets or homes for little animals, a tree is a way to enhance and protect the space we borrow from the planet. Her work was a powerful symbol in the way it brought people together in pursuit of a shared ideal, the resulting togetherness strengthening tribes and factions that power hoarding leaders would prefer to have seen turn against each other. Simply put, countries function better when everyone works together. Planting a tree is hardly the dictionary definition of a political act but it must be acknowledged anytime someone unites what would otherwise remain divided.
