I had forgotten that I had even applied for this book. It came as a pleasant surprise while checking my mail at my old place. I know many people did not like certain aspects of this book, but I enjoyed it. I was very impressed with all of the little experiments etc that you can do, it was a lifesaver to me when I was faced with babysitting children of very mixed ages,this past summer. The children enjoyed it, the experiments and learning about the earth and our effects on it.If you have kids or have kids in your care, I suggest this book, especially if you are trying to figure out what to do with them for the holidays !

As the title suggests, The New 50 Simple Things... is full of ideas for how children can help save the environment. Though it may seem obvious, the first thing to note is that this book is intended for children--as opposed to adults who work with children. I selected the book thinking that I would find it useful in my role as a Girl Guide leader, which often involves coming up with environment-related activities for a group of 9-12 year olds, but it wasn't quite as helpful as I had hoped. Still, it certainly contains a lot of good ideas and presents them in a way that's generally very accessible, so I think children would like it. I'll probably be able to use it as a source of quick facts to add to other activities that I've planned.

My main complaint is that not enough of the content is found in the book itself; rather, every section contains a lengthy list of websites where we can look for further information. I would estimate that these lists constitute maybe 1/6 of the text in the book, which is a huge amount. Personally, when I'm reading a book, I'm not at the computer; and conversely, when I'm at the computer, I don't need to be reading a book. The authors maintain a website, 50simplethings.com, and I would much rather they kept all the links on their website while leaving them out of the book. The constant inundation of links left me feeling that the book wasn't complete on its own and that I was missing out on most of it; plus, the long strings of random characters in many of the addresses aren't exactly kid-friendly.

The 50simplethings website does seem helpful, though. For my own purposes, I think I'm much more likely to refer to that than to look at the book again--after all, if the book is just going to direct me to the internet, what do I need it for?

An interesting if sometimes simplistic book of ideas of what children can do towards helping with environmental problems. I have a real problem with books that imply that a bit of composting and recycling is all that is need to save us from our current environmental woes, so I had a bit of a shudder at that title. It also has a very strong North American bias, which considering that many of the potential readers are outside of the US and Canada shows a bit of thoughtlessness on the part of the authors.
There is also no index, which is a bit of a loss in a book like this.
It is good to see that there are books about environmental issues aimed at children, but as other reviews have noted I don't think that many children would read this one 'for fun', and that it is probably better aimed at teachers and parents ( )

Very strong American bias led to some confusing conversations with my British five year old, but he enjoyed reading it nonetheless. We discussed a number of topics as a result of the book but to be honest there were very few things we could actively do or change, given the different lifestyles involved. He was impressed that books like this are aimed specifically at his generation, however. ( )

The New 50 Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth concentrates mainly on America and it would be nice to see more Australian content. Despite that, this book is well-written - simple for kids to understand without being boring for adults to read. It is filled with fascinating facts and helpful tips. As an adult, even I learned a lot from this book. I particularly like the inclusion of websites for us to look up further information. This is a great resource for parents and teachers because there are loads of activities and experiments to do with kids. Whether you believe the argument for global warming or not, most people cannot deny that we are damaging the environment in many areas and overusing the world's resources. This book can shows us dozens of ways to reduce our impact on the Earth, leading healthier lives and saving money in the process. The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth is a great addition to any bookshelf. ( )