BOOK REVIEW: The Plastic People Of Plastic Town

TITLE: The Plastic People Of Plastic Town
AUTHOR: Stephen Gibling
PUBLISHED BY: Pegasus Elliot MacKenzie

This book is dedicated to all parents and children who care about the Earth and want to help save the planet. It is beautifully written with a strong message and is an excellent book for children aged up to 6 years old to teach them about environmental awareness; it highlights what’s good and not so good about the plastic items people use every day.

The story features fun family characters with quirky names, and the people in their town who demonstrate in an enjoyable way, that it’s not the plastic products that are at fault, it’s how they are used and where and how they are disposed of. This problem is very much highlighted in the story and provides a simple solution for people to take responsibility to sort out the mess. The author has tackled a very serious topic and provided a beautiful, funny take on it with the necessary solution.

I was initially drawn to the book by the brightly coloured illustrations which bring the story to life in a realistic way.  They are emotive and have vibrant colours with details which really catch the eye and tell the story very well.

Using a playful tale the author demonstrates the importance of environmental awareness on an individual and community level and emphasises the importance of teamwork and friendship. It is done in a very creative way with a clear message of awareness, providing a simple solution which will help youngsters think about the subject matter and put it to good use in their day-to-day lives.

Once having heard the story children will definitely want to make others aware that there are alternatives to one-time-use plastic items in their daily life after reading this delightful story with its built-in, important message for children and adults to stop discarding plastic items and leaving it to be cleared up by others. Additionally the story contains an important message of protecting the environment and the animals and birds that live in it.  By hearing the story children will appreciate the environment more and not take the animals and birds who live in it for granted.

The book’s compact size makes it manageable for a child with small hands to hold. Plus, it has easy to slide pages which make it easier for small hands eagerly wanting to turn over to the next part of the story to handle. An added bonus it the wipe-clean front and back covers, ideal for parents reading the story to children with sticky fingers.

There is a useful resource at the back of the book in the form of a wordsearch for children to complete which will help reinforce the messages contained in the story.

This is a delightful story to engage children in changing everyone’s attitudes to a very serious world problem which brings home the message perfectly. It is perfect for parents and a useful resource for teachers of young children; an educational book with humour and a message.

Illustrated by Samantha Taylor.

Reviewer - Anne Pritchard