The Green Literacy Handbook: Inspire Environmental Stewardship Through Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing, Grades K–5 (Active learning that inspires critical thinking and environmental awareness)

Book info: The Green Literacy Handbook: Inspire Environmental Stewardship Through Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing, Grades K–5 (Active learning that inspires critical thinking and environmental awareness) (Perfect Paperback, 248 pages) – Solution Tree Press, 2025. Language: English.

Introducing Green Literacy, a way of teaching that cultivates critical thinking, reading, and writing about environmentalism through children’s books and digital media. Students analyze multiple perspectives, engage in hands-on activities, and come to a deeper understanding of environmental issues. Supported through teaching models and thematic units, educators empower themselves and their students to develop environmental awareness toward sustainable change.

K–5 teachers can use this book to:

• Explore environmental justice issues using familiar stories and digital tools to spark curiosity and new ideas with reading, writing, and drama strategies for engagement
• Engage students with activities on weather, ecosystems, and how nature connects individuals and develops systems thinking
• Encourage students to see environmental issues from all angles to deepen their understanding and empathy and move them toward sustainable change
• Be empowered with seed ideas about environmental issues, including classroom engagement strategies and professional development opportunities

Contents: Preface: What Is Green Literacy? Introduction: How to Use the Green Literacy Handbook Part 1: Foundations of Green Literacy Chapter 1: Green Literacy’s Theoretical Foundations Chapter 2: Green Literacy’s Practical Foundations Part 2: Teaching of Green Literacy Chapter 3: Creation of the Green Literacy Model Chapter 4: Thematic Unit Design and Customization With Twelve Insights Into Green Literacy Teaching Part 3: Support to Design Your Own Green Literacy Thematic Units Chapter 5: How Landscapes Shape Us Chapter 6: How Extreme Weather Events Connect Our Communities Chapter 7: How Systems Thinking Changes Our World Epilogue: We Transform Futures Together Appendix A: Green Literacy Thematic Unit Planning Template Appendix B: Choice Boards for Chapters 5–7 References and Resources Index Editorial Reviews Review

“The Green Literacy model empowers students to be active participants in their learning through critical thinking, dialogue, and creation. The Green Literacy Handbook provides practical support for teachers to position students to connect literacy skills with nature and the environment in ways that are engaging, relevant, and accessible.”
--Lorraine Radice / Award-winning author and school district leader

“This book encourages young people to think critically and confidently about their relationship to the world around them. As a parent, I value this approach to preparing students to work through the environmental challenges they will inherit.”
--Bridget Joyce / Parent

“This handbook is an essential companion for educators in a variety of places and spaces that provides a flexible and helpful framework that honors educators’ unique journeys and sparks critical conversations for our students. It is a resource that empowers us to help cultivate a new generation of thoughtful storytellers and stewards for our planet.”
--Micah Miner / Director of innovation and technology, author, ISTE community leader, education expert

“The Green Literacy Handbook deserves to be in the hands of teachers everywhere, including teachers in urban schools and those who do not think of themselves as especially ‘green.’ Overflowing with pedagogical insights, transformative activities, excellent reading recommendations, horizon-expanding questions, and much more, the handbook maps out student-centered approaches that promise not only to turn K–5 classrooms into laboratories of environmental-justice thinking but to prepare young learners for lives of meaningful environmental action. This is a book that our educational system has needed, badly, for many years.”
--Bart H. Welling / Associate professor of English, University of North Florida

About the Author

Jen Cullerton Johnson, MFA, MEd, is an award-winning children’s author, educator, and environmental advocate. She teaches at Chicago Public Schools and is an adjunct writing instructor at Wilbur Wright College, City Colleges of Chicago. With nearly two decades of teaching experience, Jen has worked to integrate storytelling, critical thinking, and environmental awareness into her teaching. Her educational career has spanned diverse settings, including working with incarcerated youth and urban classrooms, teaching abroad in Japan and Argentina, and leading nature-writing workshops in outdoor settings.
Jen is the author of The Story of an Environmentalist (2019) and Seeds of Change (2011), which has been a bestseller for over a decade and is now available in Spanish (Semillas de Cambio, 2024). She is an experienced presenter, sharing her expertise at conferences and professional development workshops across the United States, including the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE), the Children’s Literature Association (ChLA), the Green Schools National Network, and the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE).
Jen earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature and Spanish language from Indiana University, a master’s degree in education from Loyola University Chicago, and a master of fine arts in creative writing from the University of New Orleans.

Mary K. Gove, PhD, is professor emeritus at Cleveland State University (CSU), as well as coauthor of Reading and Learning to Read, which promotes a balanced approach to literacy education and has been used in undergraduate and graduate literacy education programs since the early 2000s. Her award-winning dissertation, Beliefs About Reading, continues to be a cornerstone of textbooks.
Mary has presented at numerous conferences, such as the International Literacy Association and National Council of Teachers of English, and more recently presented at the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment and Green Schools National Network. Before and during her work at CSU, she wrote and led many grant efforts for professional development, most of them organized around action research. While teaching at CSU, she focused on critical literacy, professional development centering on action research, and most recently promotion of ecological awareness and Green Literacy.
Mary attained a teaching degree from Drury College in Springfield, Missouri. She earned a master’s degree and doctorate at Kent State University.