  | Day the river caught fire : how the Cuyahoga River exploded and ignited the Earth Day movement Author: Wittenstein, Barry | |
| Price: $23.28 | ||
Summary:
The true story of how a 1969 fire in one of the most polluted rivers in America helped foster awareness of water pollution and how the river's fate contributed to the environmental movement.
| Illustrator: | Hartland, Jessie |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (01/01/23)
Booklist (03/01/23)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (-) (00/03/23)
The Hornbook (00/05/23)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 03/01/2023 In 1969, a train rumbled across a bridge above the notoriously polluted Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio. Sparks fell into the layer of oily sludge of industrial and human waste floating on waters below. KABOOM! Flames shot up from river until firefighters arrived and extinguished them. Before colonization and industrialization changed the area, the Cuyahoga had been a clean river winding through unspoiled lands populated by Native people, but the river caught fire at least a dozen times since then. After the 1969 fire, Cleveland's mayor and many citizens joined others across the country who had decided to repair the environment by working for changes in laws and policies and by celebrating the first Earth Day in 1970. Noting that Cleveland was not the only American city with a flammable, polluted river, Wittenstein writes an engaging story and, in an appended note, challenges his audience to take responsibility for saving the planet. Hartland uses repeated shapes and colors to good effect in her expressive gouache paintings. An informative read-aloud picture book for Earth Day. - Copyright 2023 Booklist.
