Ensuring that our children have a good understanding of their effect of upon the environment will prove essential not only for their generation but for numerous generations to come. Yet finding a “fun” way to educate your child regarding recycling and global warming had been proving to be something of a problem, thankfully US children’s writer, Andra Rozentals has the perfect solution with her delightful storybook “It’s Easy Being Green”. Andra was kind enough to take some time out of her busy schedule to sit down and talk with the MYG Team about her book, her family and her thoughts on the environment. Here’s what she had to say…

MYG: “Hi Andra, tell us a little about yourself?”

“I live in Chicago with my husband Erik and our baby Nikolas (we call him “Niki”). Niki is our first child and was born at the beginning of October just as I was finishing “It’s Easy Being Green.” This is my first book and a result of many years of “doodling” various characters that I have wanted to incorporate into a book. Being pregnant with Niki was an inspiration for me to finally do something and complete a children’s book from all of these characters I had created over the years.

I started thinking about my baby’s future and what sort of planet I would be leaving behind for him months before he was born. Now it’s hard for me to not look into his sparkling eyes and want to make more mindful choices so that the planet that I am leaving behind for him continues to be a beautiful place.”

MYG: “What was your key motivation when it came to writing “It’s Easy Being Green”?”

“The idea for the story actually started over two years ago. The four vegetable characters in the book Bushie Broccoli, Crunchie Carrot, Mushie Mushroom and Pepi Pepper came to life on paper in 2005. I had created these fun, colourful characters for a children’s book, but I was struggling to find a story that matched the endearment that I had for this vegetable gang of four. So I just filed the characters away until there were two sources of inspiration that really pulled the story out of me. The first came from the documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.” After viewing the film I had this epiphany and knew instantly that the vegetable characters would tell a story with an environmental theme. The second source of inspiration was discovering I was pregnant with my first child. This really fuelled my desire to pass along a story to my child about being environmentally responsible.”

MYG: “Tell us more about the story and characters within, and the inspiration behind them?”

“The book addresses the questions: Why plant trees? What is carbon dioxide? Why should we recycle? These questions posed by a group of backyard vegetables to the main characters, Larisa and Alex, set the brother and sister duo on a quest to discover what it means to be green.

I was inspired to write “It’s Easy Being Green” due to the affect global warming is having on our planet. I created the vegetable characters Bushie Broccoli, Mushie Mushroom, Pepi Pepper and Crunchie Carrot a few years ago, but they sat on the page waiting for a story to tell. After viewing the documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” the vegetable gang awoke from their slumber to show children the easy things they can do to make the world a little greener.”

MYG: “How has the books been received?”

“The feedback from parents has been great! Parents tell me that their children are now turning off lights in the house and reminding their parents to do the same. They want to learn more about recycling. They ask about planting trees and want to learn more about car-pooling. The kids of course like the vegetable characters and are more apt to listen and learn from the vegetable characters in the book than they would be from someone “preaching” to them about the environment. “It’s Easy Being Green,” offers a fun way for parents and their children to learn about the environment.”

MYG: “Where can our readers buy a copy of “It’s Easy Being Green”?”

“It’s Easy Being Green” can be purchased directly from my website www.AndraRozentals.com”

MYG: “Are you planning any further publications for children? If so can you share a few of your ideas with us?”

“I would like to write a second book continuing on the environmental theme. You can only put so much in one children’s book and in an attempt to keep it simple, “It’s Easy Being Green” addresses only a few points about what kids can do to be more environmentally responsible. There is certainly more to say on the subject. I have other vegetable characters that didn’t make it into this book. I created a Cauliflower and also a Leek that are still nameless, but wonderful characters on paper so I hope to include them into a future book.”

MYG: “If you could offer us all one single green tip that we could employ in our everyday life what would it be?”

“A really simple green tip is to recycle your plastic water bottles. Better yet is to drink water from reusable bottles. In the U.S. just over 20% of plastic bottles are recycled, which means about 52 billion bottles end up in landfills. Of course there is also the environmental impact from transporting bottled water all around the world. So my green tip is to drink from a reusable bottle and recycle the plastic bottles you do use.”

MYG: Thanks for your time, it’s been a pleasure talking to you.

“Thank you for the opportunity to feature my book.”