Green City by Allan Drummond

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In the true picture book Green City: How One City Survived a Tornado and Rebuilt for a Sustainable Future by Allan Drummond (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2016), the small town of Greensburg, Kansas that had been destroyed by a tornado was able to rebuild with environmentally friendly methods. In fact, all the buildings (schools, banks, residences) were made to meet certain standards! From solar power to recycling tornado damaged materials, Greensburg has succeeded in rebuilding in many eco-friendly ways that I didn’t even think before.

Some pages are broken in different frames (horizontally or vertically) and the text even adds  speech bubbles on some pages, the whole book has a graphic novel feel.  The text would work well as a read aloud for older listeners, although a few lengthy sidebars defining terms (such as “Going Green” and “Building a Sustainable Home”) appear on a few pages of the book and are more useful for individual study or whole class instruction, rather than as part of the read aloud. Green City a blend of nonfiction about the actual town as well as fictional look at some of the possible dialogue and characters who were a part of the real thing.

Reviewed on January 8, 2024

About the author 

Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid is a homeschooling, stay-at-home mother seeking to make the journey of life-long learning fun by reading lots of good books. Rebecca Reads provides reviews of children's literature she has enjoyed with her children; nonfiction that enhances understanding of educational philosophies, history and more; and classical literature that Rebecca enjoys reading.

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