Too Much Garbage

When two boys take out the trash, they notice the mounds of garbage by the curb, which causes them to investigate the entire city, and they soon find huge amounts of garbage everywhere, in a powerful picture book filled with vivid illustrations detailing an environmental crisis that threatens the world.

PreS-Gr 1-Tony takes out the trash one day and meets his friend Bill. They go for a walk and notice all the refuse around-being thrown out of windows, cars, and dumped everywhere. They find a flower growing in the middle of all the trash, which ends the book on a hopeful note. Testa uses white space effectively, keeping the illustrations on the right-hand side, with the minimal text contained in the upper portion of the left-hand page. This makes the two-page spread of the enormous rubbish heap at the dump even more effective. The colorful, almost cartoonlike illustrations incorporate humorous elements, as when a masked criminal throws a bag of money out of a car, or when an entire toilet is thrown out of a window. Originally published in Switzerland, this book has little story but lots of message. Bill sums it up nicely: "We need less garbage and more flowers." Teachers may find this story useful for introducing Earth Day and recycling units.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, Eldersburg, MD

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