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Listing of facts about hunger and action steps.

Seymour Simon, Guts: Our Digestive System (New York: HarperCollins Children's Books, 2005). Age Level: 6-10 years Publisher Description: The latest in Simon's books about the human body explains how the digestive system works. In his signature style, accessible without being cute or condescending, he describes the complex facts and processes of the physiology, from the time food enters the mouth until all the various organs transform it into energy, nutrients, and waste. Some of the text is quite dense, but the clearly labeled, full-page color photos show the anatomy close-up, from an X-ray of the colon and a photo of a dissected pancreas to a microscopic view of what heartburn looks like in the stomach. Simon also includes a page about a healthy diet. The facts of how the body works are astonishing. Readers older than the target audience may want to look at this, too.

Fact sheet from Population Connection

There are 870 million undernourished people in the world today. That means one in eight people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life. Hunger and malnutrition are in fact the number one risk to the health worldwide - greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.

Kelsey, Elin. Not Your Typical Book About the Environment. Toronto, Ontario: Owlkids Books Inc., 2010. Age Range: 9 and up Publisher's Description: This is an intriguing, fact-filled book about saving the environment in unusual ways. Imaginative, comic-booklike illustrations add to a lively layout that will keep readers moving from one paragraph to the next, and funny wordplay prevents the facts from becoming overwhelming or dry. The accessible narrative will help readers to realize how their purchases of food, clothes, and electronic equipment nurture or hurt the world around them, and achievable goals and ideas will enable them to pitch in and help. The concluding chapter discusses new and unique ways to create energy. Each chapter ends with an "Elin Explains" spread that describes ecological interrelatedness ("How Video Games and Cell Phones Are Connected to Gorillas") in a graphic-novel format. This hilarious, information-packed work is an excellent addition

Jones, Charlotte Foltz. Mistakes That Worked: 40 Familiar Inventions and How They Came to Be. New York, NY: Delacorte Press, 1991. Age Range: 8 and up Publisher's Description: Popsicles, potato chips, Silly Putty, Velcro, and many other familiar things have fascinating stories behind them. In fact, dozens of products and everyday items had surprisingly haphazard beginnings. Mistakes That Worked offers forty of these unusual tales, along with hilarious cartoons and weird and amazing facts. Readers will be surprised and inspired!

Harlow, Rosie, and Sally Morgan. Young Discoverers: Garbage and Recycling (Environmental Facts and Experiments). Boston, MA: Kingfisher Books, 2001. Age Range: 5 - 8 years old Publisher's Description: Explaining the difference between biodegradable and non-biodegradable garbage, this book shows how glass, metal, and wool can be easily recycled. How Can I Help? boxes give suggestions for the young environmentalist who wants to recycle at home.

This WWF report brings together a variety of quantitative information and on the current state of global biodiversity and human impact on nature. Confronting the fact that people are using 50 percent more resources than the Earth can provide, this report summarizes this information and suggests changes in action to slow and reverse current trends.

Cherry, Lynne. A River Ran Wild. San Diego, CA: Voyager Books, 2002. Age Range: 6 - 9 years Publisher's Description: In the 15th century, when native people first settled on the banks of the river now called the Nashua, it was a fertile and beautiful place. By the 1960s, the river valley had been ravaged by many years of serious pollution , and fish, birds, and other animals were no longer seen in the area. Through the efforts of Marion Stoddart and the Nashua River Watershed Association, laws were passed that resulted in the restoration of this river and the protection of all rivers. The author gets high marks for documenting the negative impact of industry on the environment and for highlighting the difference one determined person can make. However, young readers lacking historical background need more facts and dates than are included here. Cherry uses borders on pages that detail, for example, some of the inventions conceived in the 19th century; inexplicably, most are labeled but only some are dated. Her note and the maps on the endpapers, which include a timeline, also help to place the events in context. The watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations are sweeping in their subject matter and adequately convey the physical deterioration of the watershed. However, one picture is misleading; although all the animals depicted live in this habitat, they would not all be seen together. The current concern over the environment will make this a sought-after title, since it is brief enough to read aloud to groups of children. With assistance from informed adult readers, it makes an important contribution to literature on water pollution.

This website focuses on educating readers about the life cycle of paper and plastic bags though facts, charts, and pictures.

Rosenthal, Amy Krouse, and Tom Lichtenheld. Duck! Rabbit! San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2009. Age Range: 4 - 8 years Publisher's Description: Two unseen characters debate the identity of the creature at the center of this clever book-is it a duck or a rabbit? Readers will join in the discussion, because the creature could, in fact, be either. Just as each of the debaters begins to see the other's perspective, the duck/rabbit runs away and they see an anteater. Or is it a brachiosaurus? Text and illustrations are intimately wedded in this fun, interactive read-aloud. The bold lines and bright colors in Lichtenheld's illustrations are a visually pleasing match for the bantering text. With a strong, well-executed concept, this book provides an excellent starting point for discussing how points of view can differ and still be right.

DK Publishing, Who's in Charge? (New York: DK Publishing, 2010). Age Level: 7 and up Publisher Description: A completely offbeat guide to the government and ruling bodies, Who's in Charge? investigates the world's political systems and presents them to kids in a fun, appealing way. From the Roman Republic to modern democracies, Who's in Charge? is packed with information on evolving notions of citizenship, rights, power, and elections, along with eye-opening trivia facts that might even teach adults a thing or two.