OLD ENOUGH TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Informative and inspiring accounts of ambitious world-improving projects initiated by children.

Devoting two spreads to each child, Hui describes the organizations founded by 12 young social entrepreneurs of varying ethnicities and from all over the world; one child is a wheelchair user. They tackle fast fashion, period poverty, paper waste, and single-use straws and work toward green energy, cleaner oceans, sustainable farming, disability access, and accessible health care. “Supporting women and girls through art and education,” “redistributing food destined for landfills,” and “promoting ocean education” are others’ aims. Tidbits about the impacts of harmful practices and situations are seeded across the bright, detailed illustrations, which are naïve and engaging. In the background, racially diverse, cheerful kids keep busy; several use wheelchairs, and some wear hijab. As in Old Enough To Save the Planet (2021), the projects have a positive though naturally limited impact. Ten brief hints on how to be a social entrepreneur and 10 more on being a responsible consumer provide goals perhaps more accessible to ordinary readers. A map showing the young people’s countries of origin and acknowledgment that it isn’t all on individuals to make a difference would have been welcome, but a dozen websites for further exploration are a useful addition. Younger readers might need help with vocabulary (and small print). (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Driven, resourceful kids could be galvanized by these stories.