I Have the Right to Save My Planet

Alain Serres and Aurélia Fronty have teamed up on a third picture book based on the rights of children outlined in the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child. In I Have the Right to Save My Planet, Serres focuses on the rights and associated actions children can take as they advocate for their planet. The text is informative while remaining sparsely poetic, and Serres background as a Kindergarten teacher shines through; he clearly understands the hearts of young children.

Drawing examples from sources that will surely delight children, Serres takes readers through their right to knowledge, their right of refusal, their right to hope and their right to yell. For example, when Serres points to the need to maintain biodiversity, he chooses the Pinocchio treefrog of New Guinea as an example (Litoria pinocchio) and includes a textual aside that children cheering for diversity should be “[…] not too loud. Don’t want to wake up the frog baby.” This inclusion is both delightful and deeply respectful of how children qualitatively perceive the world. Serres does not forgo imagination in his quest to provide a nonfictive guide to our youngest citizens. Bravo!

Fronty’s illustrations accompany the thoughtful text perfectly. Her rich use of colour and stylized representations call to mind folk art traditions. How fitting to use the “art of the people” to invite children into action on behalf of their planet. Children are people. A page about a child’s right to water (p. 20) features a touching illustration where two children, set against a rich golden desert, share water droplets from the tips of their fingers as if channeling their magic powers. Fronty’s saturated tones perfectly balance Serres’ message: be bold, be brave, take a stand, because it is your right.

“If three billion kids in the world found three billion good ideas, the planet would grow more beautiful every day….” (p. 39). Here’s hoping.