The Soda Bottle School

May 1, 2014
A Guatemalan community turns trash to treasure, thanks to a teacher's "crazy idea."It all starts when Seno Laura, taking a break by the frame of a never-finished new school one day, notices that the soda bottle in her hand is the same width as the structural supports. Her principal, the children at the overcrowded local school and the other residents of Granados are quickly enlisted to gather thousands of discarded plastic bottles and stuff them with trash to create "eco-ladrillos" (bricks) and stack them into walls. Much hard work later-and much of it done by energetic young Fernando and other children-the village not only has a fine school, but has been thoroughly cleaned of litter to boot. Better yet, other communities have been inspired by Granados' example to undertake similar projects of their own. Only some of the figures in Darragh's very loose ink-and-watercolor illustrations have individualized features, and her pale palette doesn't really capture the distinctively vibrant look of soda-bottle walls (a photo at the end offers a tantalizing glimpse). Nevertheless, this true story celebrates both the value of teamwork and a triumph of ingenious recycling.A likely hit with young eco-activists, despite the bland visuals. (afterword) (Informational picture book. 6-8)

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July 1, 2014

Gr 1-3-Reuse and recycling are combined with ingenuity, as the people of the small town of Granados in Guatemala pull together to solve two large problems: the prevalence of litter and a cramped, unfinished school building. Kutner, a teacher who noticed that a plastic soda bottle is the same width as a building frame, cowrote the book, grounding the story in authenticity as she focused on the enthusiasm of one of her students, a fourth-grader named Fernando. Fernando's energy and excitement is what spurred his classmates and the rest of the town to gather bottles, stuff them with inorganic trash, and stack them together to eventually form the walls of their new school. Watercolor illustrations aptly capture these scenes, though readers fascinated by the real story may want more photographs in addition to the two provided in the back matter (more can be found on the Hug It Forward website, the organization receiving part of Suzanne Slade's book profits). A great pick for those looking for stories about teamwork, activism, and environmental issues.-Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library

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