Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World by Allan Drummond
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
March 1, 2011
0374321841
978-0374321840
40 Pages
Ages 4–8
Children’s Science, History & Historical Fiction Picture Book
Allan Drummond studied illustration at the Royal College of Art in London. His many books include Tin Lizzie, a Green Earth Honor Book. He lives in Savannah, Georgia, where he is Chair of Illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Reviewer: Renee Hand
Energy Island is an inspiring story that demonstrates how a normal everyday community can pull together to reach energy independence.
Samsø Island is an island in the middle of Denmark. It is an island similar to most in Denmark: It has fields and farms where farmers raise livestock and grow crops. It has a harbor with fishing boats. And the inhabitants use just as much electricity as other places. But what makes this island unique is the fact that it’s very windy there.
Then one day, a change occurs in this community. The Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy chooses Samsø as the ideal place in Denmark to become independent of nonrenewable energy resources. The man to head up the huge task is a teacher named Soren Hermansen. With the help and ideas of some children, they figure that wind will be the best source of energy for them to use because it is abundant (and free) in their little corner of the world.
So they begin there, but getting everyone in the community on board is an even harder task, until a few people take a chance on an idea of a wind turbine. There is one small idea, and one really big idea. Jorgen Tranberg has put in a huge turbine near his farm. People are still skeptical of what he is doing, until one stormy night when the power went out. Through the storm, Jorgen is the only one who has power and is officially energy independent.
People start to change their minds after that, especially because the island has frequent power outages because of the wind. Suddenly, Soren Hermansen is busier than ever. Many energy projects begin to pop up, including the use of other renewable resources. Eventually, Samsø changes its future, becoming a leader in energy independence.
This is a true story. The illustrations are well done throughout the book and include sections where more information and description is given about various topics, such as saving energy, energy in the world, nonrenewable energy, and renewable energy. These sections give the reader more of an understanding.
This 40-page picture book inspires other communities all over the world to look at their potential regarding energy independence.
Energy Island is the first in the series of picture books about innovative green projects initiated by communities around the world. The next book in the series is about Greensburg, Kansas, where everything is looking green.
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Popping by from the Weekend Creation Blog Hop to say hello. Your books are wonderful - if had kiddies - Thanks for linking up. Shah .X
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ReplyDeleteThanks for buzzing by my blog! I'm here to return the love! Never heard of this book, but looks like a great read for my kindergarten with Earth Day approaching! Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for the review. Does the book seem political to you?
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The book wasn't really political. It just talked about what an island went through to become energy independent. It does a lot of explaining about natural resources and more information like that. The author wrote it based on an article he read in the paper about Samso and what they had accomplished. He thought it would be inspiring to other people because it is people who make the difference in a community. But of course it pushes the use of certain resources.
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Howdy! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog design site today and following along. I am so glad you did! I love getting to meet new people. This would be a great book for my son. I'll have to look it up on Amazon later. I hope you’re having a great day!
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I'm absolutely going to have to give this book a whirl. Awesome review!
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This sounds like a great book. I am very interested to share it with my older children as well.
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