Earth Hour: A Lights-Out Event for Our Planet

For Earth Hour, people turn out the lights “on a Saturday night, at 8:30 sharp, near the equinox in March” as a “pledge to live more sustainably and conserve energy.” In the first half of this picture book introduction to Earth Hour, Heffernan describes the many ways that people use energy worldwide, from warming homes to cooking dumpling soup, accompanied by Luu’s crisp, cartoony illustrations, which incorporate world landmarks (the Sydney Opera House and Giza Necropolis), assorted landscapes, and people of varying skin tones. Then, “on every continent, millions join together, in quiet celebration, to turn out their lights.... Yet this one hour a year isn’t enough.” Closing notes more clearly explain Earth Hour’s origin, meaning, and purpose, and amplify the text’s call to collective action: “Alone we are one.../ but together we have power./ United, we are Earth Hour.” Ages 3–7. [em](Jan.) [/em]