Young children are experts in spotting and rejoicing in the small wonders of nature. Research has shown that when adults join children in environmental explorations, children are more likely to become stewards of the environment as they grow older.
Long before protecting the environment and global warming became hot topics of conversation, the Torah assigned Adam, the first human being, the task of ”working and guarding the earth” (Genesis 2:15), cautioning him to “be careful not to damage any part of the world, for whatever is destroyed cannot be replaced” (Midrash Rabbah 7:13).
The following PJ books focus on child-friendly ways of caring for the earth. Many emphasize the necessity of reusing and recycling, a concept know in Hebrew as ba’al taschit (not wasting).