Once Upon a Planet

When author Katherine Applegate was touring schools for her book Wishtree—a novel on prejudice for tweens, told through an oak tree’s perspective—students kept wanting to talk about the climate crisis. They were stressed about whether polar bears would die, panicked about the world they’re inheriting. Their questions inspired Applegate, but she was daunted: Her previous books have dealt with heavy topics like animal cruelty and poverty. Climate collapse, though? That’s a challenge.

But it’s one that children are grappling with. A 2021 worldwide survey found that 59 percent were very or extremely worried about climate change and 75 percent felt the future is frightening. The publishing industry has embraced the mood: According to Nielsen’s publishing market research, sales of children’s books related to the environment rose 69 percent between 2019 and 2021. These aren’t just tales about animal tea parties or Truffula trees. Inspired by Greta Thunberg, these books capture kids’ anger and despair, and are loaded with calls to action.