Last month we published The Plastic Problem, a book to help your family cut plastic out of their lives. We were lucky enough to speak to its author, Aubre Andrus, about what she learnt through writing the book. Take it away Aubre!

“Writing this book changed my life. It made me re-examine a lot of the ‘auto-pilot’ actions I take on a daily basis, like grabbing a lid or a straw when I don’t need it. I became much more aware of how much plastic pollution my daily routine created, and I immediately tried to change that. I’m still working on cutting out plastic from my life, but every time I do it makes me feel really good!

When it comes to saving the planet, many people are taught 'reduce, reuse, recycle' but the mantra should actually be 'reduce, refuse, recycle'. With that in mind here are some extra ideas to get your family started as 'plastic patrollers'" :

Take a check-list of your waste

"How many bags of rubbish and recycling does your family create each week? Each month? Don’t forget about small waste bins in the bathroom or bedrooms. Keep a tally of how many bags or bins you fill up then make it a fun family challenge to reduce that amount next month and so on".

Focus on one room at a time

"There are so many ways to cut plastic out of your life, which is great - but it’s also overwhelming! Try focusing on one room like the kitchen or the bathroom first. For the next month, make small changes that reduce waste in that room specifically".

Declare a plastic-free shopping week

"Take a trip to the shop and attempt to fulfill your needs with the least amount of plastic possible. This is called ‘pre-cycling’. Ask your kids for help finding these solutions".

Model eco-friendly behaviors for your kid(s)

"As parents, we know that kids are more likely to pick up on a habit that they see us doing ourselves, like grabbing a piece of fruit instead of crisps for a snack. Start modelling low-waste behaviours for your kids like saying no to plastic cutlery, straws and bags and using fabric napkins and dish cloths instead of paper ones".

Challenge your family to pack a waste-free lunch for a day

"Our daily lunch routines often create a lot of plastic waste. There are many simple solutions kids and adults can take such as buying snack items in bulk and portioning them out in reusable bags, or packing reusable silverware and cups as well as fabric napkins”.

Thanks Aubre for all of that useful info! Since its release, both kids and adults alike have been flicking through the pages of The Plastic Problem. Here’s what Annabelle, 8 years old, had to say about it:

“ I like this book because it gives me ideas about how to help the environment. The book talked about how lots of plastic ends up in the ocean, how there's plastic in your clothes, and how plastic heats up the earth. I also learned that a plastic water bottle can take 450-1,000 years to break down. That's not good! This book is important because it helps to solve the plastic problem. I would recommend this book to anyone - young or old ”.

The reviews have also started to come in on the children’s book review site, Toppsta. Here’s what Kate-jw, who has been reading it to her class, has said:
" My class loved this and were all eager to get a chance to read it! Some great ideas in here on how to reduce our plastic usage, which they are all pledging to do!"

If your kids would like to explore more about becoming a ‘plastic patroller’, get them to take the ‘plastic patroller pledge’ from our activity sheet here. To pick up a copy of The Plastic Problem, head to our online shop.

Want to investigate even more ways on how to help save the environment and the planet? Read an account of one of our families doing a beach-clean on Chesil Beach here. For tips on how families can travel more sustainably, read our blog here.

Spotlight on: The Plastic Problem

Do you love the idea of learning a new language with your kids but just don't have the time or energy to get going with it? Here, Barb Hudson from New Zealand's Good Teacher Magazine makes the point that our First Words series can be used for learning a new language whatever age you are and provides some creative ideas for how to use the books and the flashcards. Over to you, Barb!

Many of us have embraced the idea of lifelong learning and are pushing ourselves constantly to add to our individual knowledge bases. Adding to what we know, whether through a thirst for deeper understanding or to widen and conquer new horizons, has become second nature.

As educators, caregivers and parents we are continually wondering how we can successfully introduce concepts to enhance any learning experience. Some start the education (learning) process before the birth occurs while others feel children should learn by doing and experiencing things naturally, absorbing ideas and developing knowledge as they go. Whatever the journey, sometimes there are resources which can be used to achieve more than one aspect of the learning process.

I asked to review the Lonely Planet Kids series of First Words board books and flashcards, two resources which can be used both individually or in conjunction. (I must stress I requested copies of these resources to review as I thought they might be of interest to the readers of Good Teacher Magazine, I was not approached by the company.)

The First Word Series currently covers English, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Mandarin and comes as a hardy board book with 12 double page spreads: words to the left and simple graphic illustration on the right. The word page has the word in English, in the language or characters of the language (where applicable), and finally in brackets the pronunciation. The books are robust and can be taken anywhere (although I suggest the bath isn't the best idea), and sized so smaller hands can cope and adults can effectively use it when sharing.

The flashcard series follows a similar format, simple graphic illustration on the front which breakdown into various genres on the back. They are made with lighter-weight laminated card and come in packs of 50. My take on the book and flashcards as combination is that they are a great way to extend vocabulary and understanding from the initial board book.

But, how should I use these? I hear you ask… My children/students are too big, have left home, don’t care!

My immediate reply is: who says these are just for children?

Living in a country where English (insert your language here) is the most used language why not start to learn another either by yourself or with your children with some of these ideas:

1) How much fun would it be to introduce the books and flash cards to not only your children but also your friends. Remember the cringe worthy warm up games when you go to a hard-sell product party? How about getting a group of interested parties together and setting each other the goal of learning two new words day. In just 25 days you could have 50 previously unknown words in a new language.

2) Share and use the board books for reading alone - at home, in the car, waiting for the bus, anywhere where small children (and possibly not so small ones) need to be entertained in an activity which can be started and stopped easily.

3) Put all the flash cards graphics up (words down) on a table, or on the floor and see if you can guess the word. If you are right you keep the card; if not read it out, talk about it and return it to floor/table and that card cannot be selected for four turns. Do this in a group or in pairs.

4) In pairs, one person simply holds up the card in traditional flashcard fashion, while the other says the word. Get it correct and the card is discarded from the pile. After an allotted period of time change over. In a twist on the above, place the cards with the words up, covering the one in English and see if you can identify what the word is. Sound it out and describe it.

5) Try a combination of the above two activities to keep it interesting.

Variations on this these games are brilliant on car trips and I’ve only mentioned a few possibilities. The activities are ageless and a great starting point if you are planning on undertaking a new language in adulthood, just as I suggested in my initial review of the  board/card series.

Look, Listen and Learn - these books and cards are invaluable whether as a group or individually.

Thanks Barb!

You can have more fun with our First Words on our audio hub and by trying our quiz too!

First Words: ideas for how to use our books and flashcards

With our new Wild in the City book you can discover the secret lives of more than 30 extraordinary creatures that share our cities around the world. We were intrigued by how the editorial team found all the amazing animals which they included in the final book so we spoke to author Kate Baker, designer Tina Garcia and zoologist consultant Ricardo Rocha. Here they share some of their favourite urban animal adventurers:

One of the things we enjoyed most about making this book was discovering all the unusual stories about animals in towns and cities around the world from wild leopards prowling the backstreets of Mumbai to hungry hippos grazing on front lawns in St Lucia.  Here are just a few whose stories we loved:

Red Foxes in London, United Kingdom

This was one of the first animals we chose for the book. Some people think foxes are a nuisance because they sometimes rummage in bins and dig up worms in back gardens, but we're based in London and we think it’s amazing that we share our city with these bushy-tailed animals. If you live in London, you stand a really good chance of seeing one trotting down the road or looking for snacks in rubbish bins. They’ve been spotted riding an escalator on the London Underground and one even joined a group of sightseers on an open-top bus tour. Another, nicknamed Romeo, climbed 71 sets of stairs and a wooden ladder to make its home at the top of the Shard building, a huge glass skyscraper!

Common pipistrelle bats in Coimbra, Portugal

We think it’s time someone stood up for bats! These furry flying mammals live in lots of cities around the world, yet many of us know very little about them. Some people are scared of them, but they’re actually gentle, clever creatures. They help pollinate flowers, their droppings make a great fertiliser and they’re very good at gobbling up insect pests. In Biblioteca Joanina – a grand 18th-century library in Portugal – common pipistrelle bats have been helping to protect the library’s ancient manuscripts and books from book-eating insects for more than 200 years. They sleep behind the bookshelves during the day, then swoop through the rooms at night to feast on bugs!

Water monitors in Bangkok, Thailand

These giant lizards can grow to 2 m (6.5 ft) long and look like mini dragons – the last thing you’d expect to see in a busy city of more than 8 million people! Their favourite hangout is Lumphini Park in the middle of Bangkok. The park is popular with people as well, so the water monitors can often be seen swimming in the lake, sleeping in trees or sunbathing on the grass right next to picnickers. They don’t just stick to the city’s parks either. They use the underground sewers to get around and sometimes walk into people’s homes or into shops to look for food.

Peregrine falcons in Barcelona, Spain

These incredible birds have been spotted nesting near some of the world’s most famous landmarks, from Brooklyn Bridge in New York to the Houses of Parliament in London and the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona. Cities reminds them of their natural habitat where they build their nests on clifftops. Tall buildings are perfect perches for scanning the local hunting area and for raising their young. There are also loads of smaller birds for them to eat, including lots of pigeons! Peregrine falcons were actually once in danger of extinction due to the use of a pesticide called DDT. The banning of DDT pesticides allowed peregrine populations to recover and they now live in many cities around the world. This conservation success story shows that we can make a difference and help make our cities a safe place for people and animals too!

Rhesus macaques in Dhaka

We love these mischievous monkeys! They have settled into city life amazingly well. They get around town much like they would in their jungle homes – jumping from roof to roof, sliding down telephone poles, swinging from clothes lines and diving into water fountains. Some people think the monkeys are like hooligans, breaking into houses, stealing food from market stalls, taking things from people’s pockets and making lots of noise as they zoom around the neighbourhoods. Others see the monkeys as part of the community and enjoy watching them play. In some cities, such as Jaipur and Kathmandu, monkeys live in the local temples, where they are honoured like gods and fed every day.

Bees in Buenos Aires

Billions of insects and other bugs share our cities. They’re all around us – scurrying along pavements, crawling on plants and zooming through the sky. They may be small, but they have important jobs to do – like pollinating plants. Bees are one of the best-known insect pollinators but they’re in trouble. Around the world, their forest homes are being cut down to make way for farmland and buildings. In Rio de Janeiro, urban beekeepers are helping their local bees by hanging up homemade hives in homes and schools in the middle of the city. You can help save your local bees by planting bee-friendly flowers in your garden. Or you can make your own bee hotel using an old plastic bottle and some hollow sticks to give them a safe place to lay their eggs.

Spotting challenge!

Have you ever spotted a fox walking down your street? Or a falcon perched on a skyscraper? Maybe you’ve heard an owl hooting late at night or discovered animal tracks in the mud or snow? We want to hear about your amazing urban wildlife encounters. It might be something you’ve seen, or something you’ve heard. Something big or something tiny... send your spottings via email to lonelyplanet.kids@lonelyplanet.com and we will share the best on social media.

Behind the scenes with Wild In the City

Can you keep the romance of train travel alive when you do it with children in tow? We certainly think so. Not only is travelling by train often cheaper, easier and more environmentally friendly than flying, it’s also way more fun for kids. You can move around, there’s plenty to look at and the buffet car provides a great distraction. But where do you start? We asked our community for their recommendation of the best train journeys with kids.

The expert view

If you’re travelling by train with kids the journey becomes part of the adventure and there are always stories that arise from a trip. Taking a sleeper train can feel daunting but they are a great insight for children into another culture, whether it’s receiving a delivery of spicy noodles late at night somewhere in the middle of Vietnam or the sleek operation on the historic Red Arrow between St Petersburg and Moscow. Day trains give an opportunity to really relax, play some family games and stretch legs on long journeys. You’ll also meet interesting people and watch landscapes changes as they whizz past, like the lush greens of Northern Morocco giving way to the dusty yellows of the south.

It’s hard to pick one journey as my personal favourite as each one has special moments that can never be recreated, such as falling into conversation with a Tunisian teenager eager to learn more about the UK, or meeting a carriageful of friendly Vietnamese travellers who insisted on taking the happiest group selfie. Trying out new train journeys has become something we all look forward to as a family and we can’t wait to find out the adventures that await us when we climb on board our next one.

- Nichola West, from Globalmouse.com

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Want to investigate further? Try these helpful extra resources:

1) Get advice on the different train journeys her family have taken from Nichola’s blog.

2) If you fancy taking a sleeper train, we've got options all over the world for a family adventure on an overnight train.

3) And if you simply love to dream about the epic train journeys you and your family could take we recommend (obviously!) our book Amazing Train Journeys.

If you want to get more family travel inspiration, sign up to our monthly newsletter.

Ask Lonely Planet Kids: what is the best train journey to take with kids? 

All aboard! Our latest new title to fall under our spotlight is How Trains Work.  From the fastest to the longest, the oldest to the newest, through tunnels, across bridges and up mountainsides, take a fascinating ride through the world of trains in this brilliant new book from illustrator James Gulliver Hancock.

In this follow-up to How Cities Work and How Airports Work , you can travel through history and around the world to find out everything you ever wanted to know about trains. Unfold pages and lift flaps to reveal bustling stations, old steam locomotives and high-speed trains zooming across Japan at almost 400 miles per hour!

Let us bring How Trains Work to life for you with this video:

But don't just take our word for it. Here's what our train-loving 10-year-old reviewer, Llewelyn, thought of our book:

I like trains and so I was looking forward to reading this book. I like how it describes all kinds of trains; my favourite train is The Flying Scotsman which I think appears in this book-well it’s a green steamy which resembles the Scotsman.

I like the excitement of the ‘flaps’ which give some extra information about the trains.  My favourite is the ‘Tuffi times’ which describes how an elephant took a ride on Wuppertal Suspension Railway but unfortunately she got scared and fell out (luckily she fell into a river and lived another 39 happy years!).

My favourite part of the book is ‘At the station’ because the pages open up to reveal a busy train station with lots to look at, things you may not always notice when you’re rushing for a train, such as the busy train cleaners who always work so hard.

This book covers most areas of train travel and I would recommend it to any train lovers out there!

And the reviews are starting to come in on the children's book review site, Toppsta. Here's what thomasleesa, who has been reading it to her class, thinks:

A fantastic book to share with KS1 and KS2. Perfect for reading and sharing whilst teaching explanations. It is beautifully illustrated, has fun flaps to lift and pages that extend and is full of interesting information and explanations about how trains work.  Full of history, science, engineering and mathematical facts about trains, it's a great book for KS2. My class loved it! And it's perfect as to read and look at as a guided group.

If you're inspired to take your kids on some epic railway journeys, we have suggestions for night-trains around the world with kids, Europe's most scenic rail journeys and a book on the world's most amazing train journeys.

How Trains Work is part of the UK's National Non-Fiction November so get involved if you want to investigate more fun transport titles or are ready to create the vehicle of the future and enter our competition!

Spotlight on... How Trains Work

This month is the UK-based Federation of Children’s Book Groups’ annual celebration of all things factual: National Non-Fiction November (NNFN). Here at Lonely Planet Kids we've been involved with NNFN for a few years now. We love that for a whole month we celebrate all those readers who have a passion for information and facts, the type of reader who really loves the books we produce.

Each year has a different theme and this year's theme is one which is close to our hearts: transport and travel around the world. We've just published a new book How Trains Work and we're thrilled to be supporting National Non-Fiction November with both the artwork from the book and with the competition (read on to find out more!).

So how can you, your book group or your school get involved?

Get reading! We've got an extensive list of transport-related titles to get you started.

Enter our competition! We want to see what you think the vehicle of the future looks like. The winning group or school gets the opportunity to have a visit from our award-winning illustrator James Gulliver-Hancock but there are plenty of other fabulous prizes including days out on heritage railways and, of course, copies of How Trains Work.

Use our resources! There are free downloads, lists of ideas and further reading on the NNFN site.

Lastly, if you want to learn more about How Trains Work and what our young reviewers think of it, our Spotlight on... series is currently focussing on our latest transport-related title. And if the artwork in the book inspires you or your kids you can read all about how James Gulliver-Hancock approaches his work.

If you want to keep up to date on the world of Lonely Planet Kids, sign-up to our monthly newsletter.

National Non-Fiction November & Lonely Planet Kids

On Thursday 13th November 2019, it’s World Kindness Day. It’s a day to celebrate the importance of being kind and to be inspired to do something kind that you wouldn’t normally do. You could be kind to someone else, kind to the environment or kind to yourself.

Our book 101 Small Ways to Change the World has, you guessed it, 101 suggestions for small changes you and your kids can channel kindness to help make the world a better place. It’s a practical, fun and creative book divided into three sections: caring for others, caring for the planet and caring for yourself. Here are just three ideas to try for this year’s World Kindness Day. If you’re looking for more ideas, you can read 15 out of 101 small ways to change the world.

Be kind to others

Tell a friend exactly what makes them great - just because! You don't need an excuse to remind someone why they're awesome. Write them a note or, even better, give them a compliment in person. It will make their day.

Be kind to the environment

Litter makes our beautiful planet look ugly. Invite some friends to help clean up your neighbourhood, local park or beach. Every piece you pick up helps!

Be kind to yourself

A daily dose of sunshine and natural light is just as important as brushing your teeth. Vitamin D makes our bones strong and some people even say that sunlight makes us happier. Make sure you get outside every day!

For more information and inspiration on World Kindness Day spend some time on Random Acts of Kindness, ActionforHappiness and follow the hashtag #WorldKindnessDay on social media.

World Kindness Day 2019

This month we’re turning our spotlight on a beautiful new book that teaches us all about the places in the world which normally avoid the limelight.

In Hidden Wonders, you can take a journey into the unknown and discover the planet’s wildest and most wonderful sights. Paddle through the eerie glowworm caves of New Zealand, ride with the wild horses of the Namib desert, swing off the end of the world in Ecuador, and be amazed at hundreds more wonders you never knew existed!

But don’t take our word for it, have a look yourself with our video:

And let’s see what 10-year-old Willa, our latest reviewer, thought of it:

I loved reading Lonely Planet’s book ‘Hidden Wonders A Guide To The Planet’s Wildest, Weirdest Places’. The introduction was very interesting and made me keep reading. I like how it made me imagine that I have discovered all these places and that I am an explorer. The introduction builds suspense on what you are going to read about in the book.

Each entry was filled with breath-taking facts and pictures. The facts were all strange and interesting. The pictures made the pages more fun and colourful. I loved reading about California’s Lost Coast because it is so hard to get to, it’s off the radar and it sounds like an amazing place to hike and take pictures. The Abandoned Ghost Ship has an incredible backstory that I loved reading about. Every single place in this book surprised and excited me.

If you want to explore more of the world’s incredible places with your children have a look at these natural wonders that will blow your mind.

And if they are still thirsty for more of the weird and wonderful on our planet, our series on the World’s Strangest will introduce them to Ocean Beasts, Places, Predators and Creepy Crawlies.

Spotlight on: Hidden Wonders

We recently ran a competition with Learning Resources UK. Inspired by the anniversary of the Moon Landings, we asked children to either draw or write their very own space scene.

We were bowled over by the creativity of all the children who entered. Well done everyone! We would like to travel to space with all of you.

Here's the winner, 10yo Gaurika from Duabi, followed by our three runners-up.

Guarika, aged 10

Batul, aged 7

Harrison, aged 7

Alfred, aged 8

Thanks to all who entered the competition! Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep an eye on upcoming competitions.

Kids Blog Posts

Spotlight on: The Plastic Problem

First Words: ideas for how to use our books and flashcards

Behind the scenes with Wild In the City

Ask Lonely Planet Kids: what is the best train journey to take with kids?

Spotlight on... How Trains Work

National Non-Fiction November & Lonely Planet Kids

World Kindness Day 2019

Spotlight on: Hidden Wonders

Moon Landings competition: and the winners are....

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