What a powerful story of a community protecting their lands! The word choices were appropriate for the age group, and there’s a glossary at the back for unfamiliar words.

Thanks to NetGalley for the complementary copy of this book!

I have added this book to my TrueStory Bookshop and recommend it in three categories:
Picture-Book Biographies ~ Women’s History
Picture-Book Biographies ~ Activists
Picture-Book Biographies ~ Gardening

https://bookshop.org/shop/KarlinGray

Activism is a key theme in my classroom and this book will be perfect to add to our collection. Not only did it talk about the Indigenous groups in South America fighting to preserve the forests and stop oil drilling, but it mentioned others around the world fighting for their land and its protection.

"My home is alive - alive with trees towering, vines winding, and frogs singing."

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for granting me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

This is a beautiful illustrated tale about the Kichwa and their efforts to save the Amazonia from an oil company. It starts with the childhood of the author and tells us tales the Kichwa share about the Amazonia forest and the Amazanga, as well as how they depend on the forest for every day life. The writing flows nicely and the illustrations fit in perfectly with the story.

It follows the growing up process of the author and how, faced with the destruction of a such a beloved and important forest, the people push through and fight for what's always been theirs.

It's beautifully written and illustrated and I believe it conveys the story perfectly. Most importantly, it's capable of reaching people of all ages - because it's as much important for elderly to learn about this as for children.

The fight for the environment has always been tightly intertwined with indigenous' peoples rights and fights, and always will be. They're at the front of this and their voices and opinions are the ones we should listen to and amplify.

It's a short story, but I loved it.

This was a fantastic story about how the Kichwa village of Sarayaku in the Amazon Rainforest fought against the oil companies and the government of Ecuador that had allowed them in and won an important victory in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

One of the authors of the book was instrumental in that fight and in the continued activism to protect the indeginous cultures of the Amazon Rainforest. I was really impressed when I realized that, and for me that gives the story that much more weight and importance because it's what really happened, told by someone who was there.

The book itself is gorgeous. The story is told in an almost poetic style of prose and the illustrations on every page are stunning.

Kiddo (9) and I really enjoyed it. We were also delighted to find more information at the back - a whole page of textbook-style information about the Kichwa of the Amazon Rainforest and then two more pages about indeginous cultures around the world who are standing up for their land. (We read a book earlier this year about nomadic cultures around the world that mentioned several of the same groups, and kiddo was very interested in learning more and in learning about more cultures.)

A fantastic book overall on a very important topic and a must-have for classrooms, libraries, and home libraries.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Charlesbridge for providing an early copy for review.