6 books to help talk to your child about climate change

Many children and young people are anxious about climate change and what it means for their futures.

But adults can face the dilemma of how to talk to children about these incredibly serious issues without upsetting them further.

We are educational linguists investigating how writers and illustrators communicate ideas related to climate change to children. Books are an important way to help conversations around climate change in safe, age-appropriate ways.

Children’s literature has long been the vehicle for talking about difficult subjects, exploring the world from different perspectives and offering readers a means to imagine different ways of living.

Here are six books from Australian writers and illustrators that can help parents and carers look at issues related to climate change with children from preschool to the late primary years.

They have been chosen because they offer their readers hope, foster relationships to the environment and encourage agency and courage. These can all help children develop positive coping strategies around climate change.

1. Walk of the Whales by Nick Bland

For children four and up

Hardie Grant Publishing 2021. Walk of the Whales shows children how the world around them is interconnected. It is a simple tale of what happens when whales walk out of polluted oceans and establish homes on land. The ensuing chaos is brought to life through humorous illustrations, where the whales are shown wreaking havoc on their new homes. Imagine sharing a lane at the swimming pool with an whale or the state of the pavements when whales play jumprope! This thought-provoking tale is told with a lightness of touch which will delight young readers while illustrating the consequences of our actions in a delicately balanced world. 2. Iceberg by Claire Saxby and illustrated by Jess Racklyeft