Book Review: The Planet In A Pickle Jar

The Planet In A Pickle Jar
By Esther

Daisies fluttering in the breeze
Sleek spotted leopard
Rainbows covering the mountains
Stealthy wolf howling at a crescent moon
An eagle soaring over a tree covered valley
Marshmallows toasting on a crackling fire
A dark dense forest stretching to the horizon
Rainbow fish swimming in a turquoise sea
Sunset over a lake
Dawn skies of pink and purple
Streaks of colour across a midnight sky
A bright stream across a colourful field

What would you preserve?
What would you save from our precious planet?

Our planet is in a pickle and we are the ones to save it. We are the ones that need to take actions, make changes and challenge others to do the same.

We cannot save the world in a day but together we can preserve the wonders of our planet, one pickle jar at a time!

The Planet In A Pickle Jar is a story of the love of one Grandma for her grandchildren, and her love for the beautiful planet that we all call home. This is a magical story filled with awe and wonder. A stunning call to action, for us all, to take a moment and think of all the things we would miss if they were no longer here. A challenge to take action to play our small part in preserving the world we live in and protecting all who live here.

Narrated by boy girl siblings who think their Grandma is rather dull. A lonely old lady who cooks boring meals and tells the longest stories. But all is not as it seems, little readers will delight in searching Grandma’s house for all the secrets hiding there!

One day Grandma tells a tale that grabs and holds the children’s attention.

“Children, our world is very fragile. If we don’t do anything to preserve it, it will slowly fade away … until all that is left is concrete, smoke and dust.”

The story stays with the children and that night they watch a star fall from the sky.

“Were things already starting to fade away?”

The children rush to tell their Grandma what they have seen but they cannot find her anywhere!

A secret door and hidden stairs lead the children to a corridor filled with … pickle jars?!

“History, languages, nature, memories, smells, feelings and much more were preserved within these magical jars.”

The children cannot believe their eyes. They follow the corridor until it opens up into a huge, amazing sanctuary. A safe haven for animals and plants. Marvels from the whole world were protected here, preserved here by their Grandma who the children were realising was anything but boring. She was brilliant, incredible, inspiring. And she needed their help to continue her good and important work. Preserving the planet … one pickle jar at a time.

This book makes me cry as the children realise how much they underestimated their Grandma and we see how much she adores her grandchildren and wants to save the world for them.

This beautiful book is one that every child and their grown ups should read. It is a magical celebration of the wonder of our planet and our families, and how embracing and protecting both things can be the greatest adventure of all.

We have loved reading this book together. We talked for the longest time about what we would protect and preserve, what we would place in a pickle jar and why. We passed around an empty jar and mimed putting in the things that we treasure. Then we used the free printable from Flying Eye Books to draw our treasures in pickle jars. We then created list poems of the contents of our jars. Such an imaginative story that fires up children’s creativity.

Do swipe through to read William’s list poem. I am a very proud mama, today and all days x

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *