Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: green

  • Ultrawild

    Ultrawild

    An Audacious Plan for Rewilding Every City on Earth

    Wow! This is an extraordinary and brilliant way to pass on information through the method of putting explosive ideas into a large picture book. Ultrawild is quite inspirational and from the beginning the reader is drawn into the questions.

    The first question is “COULD WE CRUSH CLIMATE CHANGE BY TRANSFORMING EVERY CITY ON EARTH INTO A JUNGLE?” With the aid of small cartoon captions and images, the author explains that “Thinking about ridiculous ideas can be incredibly sensible.”  He feels we should push creative thinking to the limit to solve our problems.

    “THE POWER OF POO,” is the heading for the next chapter and begins by saying that bones of hippopotamus, lions and elephants have been found underground in London. All that beautiful compost has been lost. Then the composition of poo is examined and the benefits it brings to our soil. One idea is to blow up all our toilets and replace them with compost making machines……

    Chapter 4 asks the question, “COULD WE TRANSFORM ALL THE LAMPOSTS IN THE WORLD INTO ARMOURED LUXURY HOTELS FOR NATIVE ANIMALS?” To do this we would need to use 3D printers to copy the features of trees onto lampposts. And so, the questions flow on.

    Ultrawild is a visually stimulating and awesome book to browse. It contains a huge amount of information broken down into small, humorous, and interesting parts. After many examples, the author asks the readers to send him what they have invented. This is followed by a Glossary of Terms and then an Index to reference all the subjects covered. This could be a wonderful class project to present and discuss for solutions for our planet.

  • Green Witch

    Green Witch

    Created for the Teen market with several very good messages within the storyline Green Witch is an interesting concept for the modern Teen reader in the world of today, as it uses psychic medium based within a time schism.

    Fast paced, or perhaps a bit too fast paced on many occasions, the plot line of Green Witch becomes very confusing, then somewhat challenging to try and work out what is happening, how that character got involved at that point and certainly what comes next.

    But so saying, the plot is a rather good story about Deliah eventually finding her way through life, gathering self-confidence and beginning to understand that her life, well at least to date, has been as it is, to bring her to this time and place; to her destiny.

    She arrives at her Great Aunt Edie’s house at the end of her schooling at a prestigious school, lost, alone and afraid in many ways of what comes next. She has a tendency to overthink everything she and others do, which adds angst to her life on a daily basis.

    Her Aunt, much loved as a young child, now has dementia, the house is in sad need of repair and the once glorious, beautiful gardens are sadly overgrown. After only hours at her Aunts she realises the fashion shoes and clothes she bought with her are not the right fit, and decides to go into town and get at least some shoes in the morning

    The morning brings the trip to town, the meeting of Mae, a dancer, Milly her friend and librarian, Cal, Mae’s boyfriend and Tol; black jeans, leather jacket and a magnetic attraction. A party invitation is offered to a gathering in the Woods behind Edie’s house. Delilah decides to go along and see what this very strange world she has entered is all about, or at least discover if there is any nightlife in this place.

    Unfortunately, she discovered far more than she ever wanted to know about the ‘Dark’ woods, arcane magic and trouble in capital letters. Edie comes to her help on several occasions and advises her to find the Green Witch, as she will be the one to help break the darkness that is a dangerous and deadly game being played through the body of Tol.

    Well worth persevering with, the Green Witch unfolds in a dramatic fashion which while at times could be considered as slightly unbelievable is still entertaining. BUT if you have any understanding of magic, ancient folkloric and others things mystical, it is a tale that will be enjoyed.

  • The Secret of Sapling Green

    The Secret of Sapling Green

    From the first page of this delightful picture book, we realise that Sapling is no ordinary girl. For a start her thumbs are green, and her hair is pink. What is her secret?

    As we turn the pages of this charmingly illustrated book, we discover that Sapling is a schoolgirl who is rather lonely and has little contact with her fellow students. She looks on longingly as the other children manage the garden and climb the school tree. However, disaster strikes the tree and Sapling is the one who can come to the rescue of the climbers and the tree.

    The Secret of Sapling Green is an unusual book as it begins with a normal situation, but then flows into fantasy. Children will follow this switch in genre easily and happily accept the outcome. The storyline certainly involves the imagination and raises many questions for the avid reader. The idea that one can make a positive action to help make a friendship is a good one.

    The double page spreads with a white background, make the text easy to read, and the size of the text is suitable for beginning readers. The pastel illustrations are quite delightful and give a gentle and subtle feel to the story. This is a calm and soothing story with a comfortable ending.

  • Green Christmas Little changes that bring joy and help the planet

    Green Christmas Little changes that bring joy and help the planet

    This year past has seen so much of the traditional way of life turned completely on its head with change, reorganisation and acceptance of a ‘new norm’,  something that seem to change regularly, depending on what country you live in and the current challenges dealing with COVID.

    One thing that has not changed though is Christmas; a time of year when families and friends gather to enjoy the seasons good cheer, except that Christmas in 2020 is another event that is going to change dramatically in so many countries to comply with health laws and regulations.

    So what better time than to revisit how your family celebrate Christmas by considering celebrating with a Green Christmas, by cutting back on the excesses of a modern Christmas and start to look at cost effective, environmentally healthy options.

    Eilidh Gallagher in Green Christmas, offers twenty  four ways to plan towards a stress free, cost effective family Christmas filled with fun, laughter, great food and good cheer; just some of the many things to celebrate at the end of a long, hard, tough, financially challenging year.

    Slow Christmas, the first idea has great appeal, because, let us be honest about this, who does not really want to enjoy a ‘slow’ Christmas. Do take to heart the simple exercise on page 3 before you begin on the body of the book, as it will define what it is you really do want in your life and home, to create your magical Christmas; one that is special, magical and most importantly enjoyable.

    Many of the ideas can be carried out as a family, such as making your own cards and gift tags, seeking alternates to live Christmas trees, making home-made gifts of jams, sweets, traditional Christmas biscuits and much more.

    Planning Ahead is something we are all lax to undertake but in these trying times, is something that is worth investing in, to make sure that whatever you have decided for your special Christmas can be achieved.

    Green Christmas is the perfect place to begin to revisit Christmas celebrations in the year of 2020 with aplomb, less stress, considerably less financial input and much more fun to be had by planning ahead, setting a budget, keeping it simple and enjoying the journey.