Mickey Go Green!

This book rocks. There, I said it. I thought it was going to be a short cutesy guide to cliché sustainable living activities like turning out lights, recycling aluminum and conserving water. But in true Disney form, it delivers beyond expectations to make a delightful reading experience for both children and parents.

In the new book from Disney’s Mickey & Friends Collection, Go Green! A Family Guide to a Sustainable Lifestyle, Mickey, Minnie and other notable Disney characters highlight the importance of understanding the role our food plays in living a greener and healthier life. Providing details that help children and families to first understand this specific impact and then put them into practice, Go Green! also offers:

  • Tips for starting a container garden to grow your own fruits & vegetables
  • Guidance on starting a compost piles and information on the importance of healthy soil
  • How to reduce waste by safely reusing things like plastic bags and bottles, not only for food use but arts & crafts as well
  • Recipes for making your own healthy chips from carrots, kale, turnips and more
  • Why we need to focus on eating locally and seasonally

Each page is beautifully laid out with Disney characters to engage the youngest readers, but the actual text of the book is comprehensive and creative enough to keep the parents reading. Again, in true Disney form.

mickey

mickey

What makes this book truly unique within the “sustainable living” niche is that it encompasses ALL aspects of a healthy lifestyle, including mental health. Several chapters are dedicated to the benefits of having a healthy outlook on life by building quality friendships, engaging in volunteerism, and being truthful among other wholesome activities. I found this surprising as a chapter entitled, “No Man is an Island” is not normally packaged in the same book with composting and eating locally. But after reading Go Green! it makes complete sense: the planet (no matter how well composted it is) can only be as healthy as the people on it and mental health plays a large role in physical health. It has been confirmed that people who are active and laugh a lot are less prone to chronic illness, for example.

I could go on and on, but I’ll end with this: Go Green! has it all: a comprehensive discussion of all things “sustainable living,” facts about green living, recipes, craft ideas and tips for getting the most enjoyment out of time in nature that are fun for everyone at any age.

Go Green! A Family Guide to a Sustainable Lifestyle is available for purchase in Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and Target stores across the U.S. and Canada as well as on Amazon and other major online retailers.

Disclosure: I received a sample of a product to facilitate my review. No other compensation was provided and all views and opinions stated on this post are 100% my own.

Allison Baltzersen is a mother of two baby girls and blogs about her bumblings through green parenting over at Funny Shade of Green