PBBF: Winston of Churchill

So I was brainstorming with my friend Anna about what to do on a bulletin board. She suggested a winter scene, I was thinking something having to do with kindness. Then it hit me:

Kindness = Global Warming.

I could totally see it. 
A snow globe with a scene out of a Norman Rockwell painting ... and that's when she said, "You want melting snowmen?" 
Well, no, not the global warming that leaves polar bears homeless, the kind of global warming that warms hearts all over the world ... but we never could get that idea off the ground. I think we're going with 

It's Cool To Be Kind All Around The Globe.

That's a nice compromise, don't you think?

Anyway, enter today's PPBF. 

Title: Winston of Churchill: One Bear's Battle Against Global Warming 

Author: Jean Davies Okimoto

Illustrator:  Jeremiah Trammel

Publisher: Sasquatch Books

Date: 2007

Suitable for ages: 6-10

Themes: citizenship, global warming, integrity

Fiction

Brief Synopsis: Winston, the adorable polar bear of Churchill, Canada, has observed that the earth is getting warmer due to human-generated pollution. He wants to mobilize his friends to do something about it. But Winston's wife refuses to follow him at first, pointing out that Winston himself contributes to global warming - by smoking a burning, smelly cigar! "How can you convince people to stop doing what they're doing unless you can show that every little bit helps?" his wife demands. 

Opening Pages: Winston of Churchill was a great white bear. Every year in the late fall and early winter, Winston and the other polar bears came to hunt from the ice of Hudson Bay near the town of churchill, in the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Resources:  

Visit the author's webpage {here}.

Read a review from Examiner.com {here}.
Enjoy another review at Notes, Quotes, and Questions {here}.
Try some polar bear activities at Crafts For Kids {here}.
Learn about our neighbors to the north by creating Canadian crafts.

Why I like this book: Winston learns that the most persuasive way to advocate change is to change himself, and he gives up his cigar to help convince humans to improve their world. Children of all ages can learn about citizenship through this intriguing tale. There's a built-in history lesson with the reference to Winston's namesake, the famous Winston Churchill, who rallied his fellow citizens to fight against potential disaster. And there's the real-life environmental threat of our times that's bound to ignite an interesting discussion among students: global warming. Get ready for a riveting debate about what, if anything, we can do to reduce pollution and combat the effects of global warming. Then find out what issue your students would be willing to picket for or against.

This cool Green Earth Book Award winner can also be the springboard for a formal debate on the controversy of global warming or a poster project showing every-day examples of global warming. It might also generate an interesting reflective essay on the quote, "What you permit, you promote." Explain that this quote means if you allow something, then you're okay with it and even support it. In the book, Winston was smoking which promoted global warming, the very cause he was working against. Another way to say that same thing is "What you encourage, you teach." Ask students to think of an example of when this might ring true in school.

Just wanted to launch with this fluff ball from Arctic Tale.
Click the pict to learn more about polar bears.