We loved learning about Wangari Maathai, the “Mother of Trees” who founded the Green Belt movement in Kenya. Next we read about Isatou Ceesay and The Recycling Women of The Gambia. Now, we just finished reading this biography of an environmentalist from Cameroon: “I am Farmer: Growing an Environmental Movement in Cameroon,” by Baptiste and Miranda Paul.
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When Tantoh Nforba was a child, students in his class mocked him for his interest in gardening. He loved learning about plants in his grandma’s garden, and insisted that he wanted to be a farmer one day. Against the advice of his family to study business, he eventually went to the university to study the environment and agriculture. He even gets a chance to study in the United States! Tantoh returns to his village to teach them about capturing clean spring water, botanical gardens, and ends up helping hundreds of farmers.
Today he’s an environmental hero, bringing clean water and bountiful gardens to the central African nation of Cameroon!
11 year old Maya talks about the book here:
There are many reasons to love this book! First- have you ever read a children’s book based in Cameroon!? I hadn’t! I love that Tantoh has always wanted to be a farmer, and that he follows he dream and passion. He could have lived anywhere in the world, but he chose to move back to his community to help develop better farming practices. I appreciate the environmental messages and the commitment he showed. This book is a wonderful examples to children that even one person can make a big difference in the world!
I reviewed this books as a part of Multicultural Children’s Book Day. We are in our 6th year and the celebration was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents, and educators.
MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors on board
- Honorary: Children’s Book Council, The Junior Library Guild, TheConsciousKid.org
- Super Platinum: Make A Way Media
- GOLD: Bharat Babies, Candlewick Press, Chickasaw Press, Juan Guerra and The Little Doctor / El doctorcito, KidLitTV, Lerner Publishing Group, Plum Street Press
- SILVER: Capstone Publishing, Carole P. Roman, Author Charlotte Riggle, Huda Essa, The Pack-n-Go Girls,
- BRONZE: Charlesbridge Publishing, Judy Dodge Cummings, Author Gwen Jackson, Kitaab World, Language Lizard – Bilingual & Multicultural Resources in 50+ Languages, Lee & Low Books, Miranda Paul and Baptiste Paul, Redfin, Author Gayle H. Swift, T.A. Debonis-Monkey King’s Daughter, TimTimTom Books, Lin Thomas, Sleeping Bear Press/Dow Phumiruk, Vivian Kirkfield
MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Author Sponsors on board
Thanks for bringing this book to my attention! My class does a unit on “heroes who care” and I am always on the lookout for new ones to feature, particularly those that represent diverse backgrounds.
I love the concept for that unit!! Fantastic!
This looks like an awesome book. I love learning about people who are able to make positive changes for their communities. Thanks for sharing!
This is a wonderful new #PB – the first I had read about Cameroon, too. So glad to see it reviewed for #MCBD.
Thanks so much for your great review and for sharing on the Multicultural Children’s Book Day Giant Linky! We really appreciate your support!