cover image Captain Eco

Captain Eco

Jonathon Porritt. DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley), $13.95 (1pp) ISBN 978-1-879431-12-6

Captain Eco, a red-caped superhero whose head is a replica of the globe, escorts two children on an eye-opening tour of earth's environmental troubles. With the help of Nadler's witty, inventive cartoon art and Porritt's kid-targeted jargon, Eco explains how the planet's forests, fresh water, farmland and other natural resources are being wasted. No reader will escape the force of his blunt message: ``If you destroy these things, you destroy yourselves.'' Balancing amusing asides and hard-hitting statistics, the author emphasizes the importance of relying on renewable energy sources, using ``green'' forms of transportation, reducing waste, recycling, eating nutritiously and preserving endangered animals. With its heavily illustrated, comic-strip format and fresh humor, this book will raise the ecological consciousness of even the most reluctant readers. Ages 8-up. (Nov.)