Sheila Says We're Weird - Hardcover

Smalley, Ruth Ann

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0884483266 ISBN 13: 9780884483267

Publisher: Tilbury House Pub, 2011

Synopsis

Sheila is either hanging over the back fence or hanging out with her neighbors. They re interesting, but they re weird. Why do they hang their laundry outside instead of using the dryer? Why are they riding their bikes to the library instead of just using the car? Why do they mow their lawn with a push mower when a gas mower is much faster? But Sheila discovers that their homemade soup sure tastes good, that she likes picking cherry tomatoes and strawberries in their garden, and it's pretty cozy to sit around the woodstove in the winter. Are Sheila's neighbors really weird, or do they have some good ideas going on?

About this title

About the Author

Ruth Ann Smalley is a holistic educator who writes about green living, fair trade, and health for children and adults. A former literature professor, she currently homeschools with her two children in Albany, New York. They live in a kid-friendly neighborhood, where children run in and out of each other s houses and even the dogs have playgroups. Neighbors gather for porch parties, ice cream socials, plant swaps, book club meetings, musical jam sessions, and winter board game nights. One family even hosts an annual August Kid Wash, where children in swimsuits soap up and enjoy being sprayed by adults with garden hoses!
Jennifer Emery has been illustrating for children for over a decade. Her work includes numerous children's books, including Christmas Gifts, Animal Alphabed, and Moving Day. She also illustrates regularly for the children's magazine Highlights for Children. Jen grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she still lives in a tiny apartment with her border collie, Butler. The two explore her urban neighborhood four to five times daily, witnessing many of the earth-friendly living ideas practiced by Sheila's neighbors in this book.

Review

'The only thing weird about this family is how much fun they have what a lovely reminder of how easy some change is!' --Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature, and Eaarth
'If Sheila can change her thinking, we can too. The 'new normal' is fast approaching.' --Mike Mercer, executive director, NW Earth Institute

'Living green may be tough for children whose peers aren't schooled in eco-responsibility. The protagonists of this colorful book hang their clothes out to dry, eschew air conditioning, compost with worms, and buy food from the local farmers' market. Their neighbor, Sheila, isn't impressed. 'That's weird,' she says. The young skeptic is won over in the end, however, making for a book that helps children understand that as the Sheilas of the world learn more about green living, acceptance will grow.' --The Green Life, Sierra Club

'Sheila Says We're Weird is an illustrated children's book that teaches sound environmental practices for families while it entertains. Sheila is a neighbor girl who observes many strange 'green' practices in her best friend s family. Shopping at the farmer's market for local foods, composting, using a hand lawn mower, heating with a wood stove instead of a furnace, riding bikes and walking instead of driving, drying laundry on the line instead of the dryer, making sun tea--all of these activities seem weird to Sheila. Yet Sheila seems to enjoy participating in many of these activities with the family very much. Hmmmm, could there be a lesson here? For painless and preach-free environmental education, told especially well with spunky, colorful illustrations, read Sheila Says We're Weird to children age six and up.' --Midwest Book Review

Bronze Moonbeam Award, Picture Book Category --Honor Book, Science, Grades K-6, Society of School Librarians International

Edition details

• Publisher: Tilbury House Pub
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0884483266
• ISBN 13: 9780884483267
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Emery Jennifer