What's Sprouting in My Trash?: A Book about Composting(Earth Matters)

You can't recycle a banana peel . . . can you? Learn about how composting your food scraps, egg cartons, and other wastes helps make Earth a greener place.

About the Author :
Esther Porter grew up in North Dakota, where she and her best friend had enough small animals to open a zoo. She is the author of a number of science-y books including What's Sprouting in My Trash? A Book about Composting and Sun Power: A Book about Renewable Energy. Her only animals now are Chopstick the angry cat, Georgie the confused cat, and Samantha Turkey Porter the slobbery pup.

Review :
...this simple introductory text provides basic information about composting and how it can be a great way to "grow" soil for plants or gardens. Readers learn how to start a compost pile, including what materials to use and what not to include. . . .Having explicit directions about how to take a simple action that will keep the Earth green and growing is exactly what young readers need if they are going to change their habits.-- "Reading Today Online" Kids may not know much about composting when they start this book, but by the time they're done with the simple overview, they'll have a good idea of what it is, how to do it, and the ways it can help the environment. Porter begins by explaining how the earth composts naturally, and then moves onto more difficult concepts--for instance, how microorganisms work and the way bacteria breaks down waste. Short but informative bites of text appear against oversize color photos, often close-ups, that occupy the entire page. For those who want to get started, a two-page spread titled "Composting in a Jar" offers simple instructions. The back matter leads readers to Facthound.com and instructs them to type in a special code to learn more from books in the Earth Matters series.-- "Booklist" STARRED REVIEW! Three Cheers for Trees and What's Sprouting in My Trash, two books from the Earth Matters series, offer simple, clear and accurate explorations of their subjects. Aimed at early primary school children, each book has easy to read text with related color illustrations. Short glossaries and supplemental reading lists at the ends of the books are a plus. An online reference, www.facthound.com, leads to additional material. What's Sprouting in My Trash introduces nature's own recycling, of fallen leaves helping to enrich the soil. Worms and microorganisms in the soil do the work to turn waste into humus. The book describes composting, including what should and should not be used yes to vegetable material, no to meat since it may attract unwanted wild animal attention. It suggests experimenting with composting in a glass jar. I did not try this but it seems an interesting idea. The rest of the material on composting is consistent with my long experience in having compost piles that turn into humus very useful for gardening. . . .The other book, Three Cheers for Trees, discusses our carbon footprint, including why we call it that, and has suggestions for reducing it, celebrating the importance of trees in the carbon cycle. Mentioned are reuse of material goods and recycling of items not reusable and substituting walking or bicycling for mechanized transit.-- "Science Books & Films"