Reviews
Planet Earth: 25 Environmental Projects You Can Build Yourself

"This award winning book by Author Kathleen Reilly is an engaging guide to the natural world. It encourages children nine and up to get their hands dirty and actively connect with the environment. It is a great introduction to key environmental issues."
—Calgary child Magazine July August 2008

"Kids today are feeling very deeply the stress of the planet – they hear all the talk of Global Warming and see on TV and the internet the effects of devastating storms and earthquakes around the world. It can be scary and overwhelming for them unless we can put it into kid-sized perspective for them. This book does that, and helps them become the solution. It offers projects large and small – they can create a small pond in the backyard to support wildlife or build a model of the ozone to present to a class or explain to their friends why biking is better than getting rides everywhere. Kids have the tools and the energy to make a difference – and this book gives them ideas for action."
—Hudson Library & Historical Society

"Kathleen M. Reilly’s Planet Earth: 25 Environmental Projects You Can Build Yourself presents background material and easy-to-replicate activities that focus on the basic elements of the natural world and environmental issues. "
—Joy Fleishacker, Curriculum Connections –
School Library Journal, April 10, 2008

"Both comprehensive and approachable, this title in the Projects You Can Build Yourself series combines explanations of science concepts and environmental issues with hands-on projects. Initial chapters offer basic facts about earth and life sciences, beginning with a discussion of what's usually meant by the term the environment. Later chapters explore threats to the planet's health in a survey of pollution and global warming. Throughout, terms appear in bold type and then are defined in frequent "Words to Know" boxes. Elementary- and middle-school students will find the succinct overview of the facts very useful, and they'll welcome the clearly presented projects, which range from a granola recipe that will teach them about native foods around the globe to handmade card games for multiple players. Extensive further readings and an eye-catching design filled with drawings complete a title that while educating kids about the environment steers them past despair with the reminder that every individual action helps: "Some changes are better than none.""
—Gillian Enberg, Booklist, May 1, 2008