When I wrote my book WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT GASOLINE? I didn’t go into the dangers of oil spills. I wanted to focus on the immediate subject, which was how petroleum particulates from burning gasoline and coal harm the environment. The book, illustrated by Paul Meisel, is a simple one meant for young children and I didn’t want it to suffer from information overkill. But after the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, I’m sure plenty of hastily put together books on the subject are in the works.

I was in China when the well burst, but even from such a distance it was personally heartbreaking for me. I saw my first ocean, when I was about two years old in Biloxi Mississippi on the Gulf. Later I lived in New Orleans for a short time, and loved that exotic city—and still do. As an adult I have vacationed many times on the west coast of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico. It sort of feels like home to me.

I know that summer vacation is here, or nearly here, but I suspect many teachers are planning their fall curriculum.  So here are a couple of useful gifts.

If you click on the section of my web site called TEACHERS you’ll be taken to a pair of curriculum guides for BIG GEORGE and WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT GASOLINE?  I’m very pleased with these guides.  They’re professional, useful, and even fun. (I particularly like the Revolutionary War uniform coloring pages for BIG GEORGE).  You can download and print as many copies as you need from the page.  I think you’ll find that they’ll help you to make good use of these two books I’m very proud of.

Speaking of proud:  When I returned from China I found a letter to me from the International Reading Association that BIG GEORGE was selected for the 2010 Teachers Choice booklist.  It's a short list and they're distributing a bookmark.  You can find more information on www.reading.org under "Resources" then "Booklists."  The list will also appear in the November issue of THE READING TEACHER.

When Paul Meisel and I did WHY ARE THE ICE CAPS MELTING? we realized that it couldn’t cover the huge subject of global warming in its entirety.  We felt other books were needed to expand the subject for children to offer them more to think about.  And one of the most urgent aspects of the problem is the contribution of carbon dioxide to global warming made in large part by the burning of fossil fuels.

As I child I was fascinated by fossils.  I still am.  Not only that, but a weekend  trip to a gas station on some lone highway in rural Mississippi was a treat for me.  I loved the smell of the stuff, and wished I understood the arcane language of the discussions my father always had with the gas station owner as soon as the hood of the car was opened, to check the oil, and whatever. So my new book with Paul, WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT GASOLINE?, offered me a chance to learn about just what gasoline is, and how it is made from an infinite number of tiny fossils buried beneath deserts (which were once seas) and seas themselves.

Picture books for children take a long time to go from idea to object. When I wrote "Why Are the Ice Caps Melting? The Dangers of Global Warming" five or six years ago being “Green” was not the big subject it is today. But by the time the book came out former Vice-President Al Gore had written "An Inconvenient Truth," and won an Oscar for the documentary film of the subject. Leonardo di Caprio had (I believe) 6 Prius cars in his garage. Hollywood had spoken. Green was good.

I was surprised that this modest little book, published by HarperCollins as part of its LET’S READ AND FIND OUT science series, and cheerfully illustrated by Paul Meisel, gathered the attention it did, although I guess I shouldn’t have been. A reporter from The Washington Post interviewed me and asked if I didn’t feel concerned about how I was frightening children by writing a book about global warming. The Wall Street Journal (which rarely reviews children’s books) wrote a long and vitriolic review of the book, with a similar caveat.