We All Share the Air

 

The Air We Share: A Pollution Problem and Finding Ways to Fix It (Books for a Better Earth) 

by Dee Romito; illus. by Mariona Cabassa 

40 pages; ages 6-9

‎Holiday House, 2025

theme: air, pollution, environment

What goes up here, ends up there. It’s all connected, in the air we share.

The air around us may look invisible, but it’s a mixture of gases and tiny particles. What sort of particles? Think about the things that go up into the air: smoke from wildfires, exhaust from cars and buses, volcanic ash, dust, and even pollen and fragrances from flowers and trees. In the pages of this book, Dee Romito talks about sources of air pollution and what people – and governments – have been, and are doing about them. The book ends with a list of things you can do to keep the air clean, and a reminder that “…everything is connected, and we all share the same air.”

What I like about this book: I like that there are examples of different things that can impact our air quality, from man-made smog to volcanic eruptions. And that Dee highlights how solutions were implemented: tree-planting to combat erosion and the dust storms, a clean air act to control vehicle emissions. I also like how she showed that air carries other, invisible things: sounds and smells and sometimes seeds. Back matter includes an author’s note, glossary, short bibliography, and index.

Beyond the Books:

Build a Pollution Catcher to find out what’s in the air you breathe. Smear a thin coat of petroleum jelly on a paper plate and attach it to a wall or fence using paper clips. Particles carried in the air will get trapped and you can see them the next day. Here’s a short video showing how.

Learn more about what causes air pollution from the NASA Climate Kids page.

https://climatekids.nasa.gov/air-pollution/

What’s your Air Quality? You can check it out at AirNow – and they also have a wildfire smoke tracker. A couple weeks ago some US cities were getting warnings about poor air quality due to particulates from the wildfires in Canada.

Today we’re joining Perfect Picture Book Friday. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy provided by the publisher.