Week of April 19

In celebration of Earth Day this week, we are reading One Little Bag by Henry Cole. This is the sweetest story of how a paper bag is reused hundred’s of times in many ways. There are no words in this book, but the illustrations speak volumns, as the boy takes his bag to lunch, to college, even to propose marriage. The bag crosses generations as the grandpa and grandson spend time with the bag until in the end, a final destination is determined for the bag. The muted color on the pages helps kids keep track of the bag in every picture. At the end, I let students know that the author was inspired on the very first Earth Day in 1970 to try recycling his lunch bag, which he did for 3 years. Then when he graduated, he gave the bag to his friend, who used it another year. He figures the bag got used over 700 times! This is a great book to jump start the conversation about recycling, reusing and conserving this Earth Day!