All Consuming

Our shopping culture isn’t an obvious polluter.

There’s always more to buy, buy, buy. Kids love trendy clothes, the latest electronics, fast food and even plastic gift cards. Sales draw us in, shiny new gadgets have us going ga-ga and personalized pop-up ads on our social media feeds have us frantically buying things—and throwing them out—without a second thought. You can’t see the pollution the way you can see smog in the air or a forest that’s been chopped down. But our buying habits and obsession with the latest and greatest are affecting the planet.

All the things we need, want and gotta have are responsible for big environmental problems. But making small changes in what and how often you buy can have an impact. All Consuming shows the pros and cons of making different choices when it comes to buying the things you love. It also shines a spotlight on kids who are bringing about change and offers ways you can help out too.

The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Erin Silver is an award-winning children’s author. Her books include Just Watch Me (Krystal Kite Award nominee), What Kids Did: Stories of Kindness and Invention in the Time of COVID-19 (Hackmatack Award nominee), Proud to Play: LGBTQ+ Athletes Who Made History, Rush Hour: Navigating Our Global Traffic Jam (Blueberry Award winner), Sitting Shiva (Vine Award finalist, TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award finalist) and Good Food, Bad Waste: Let’s Eat for the Planet (2024 American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books finalist). Erin was chosen to tour during Canadian Children’s Book Week in 2023 and is a sought-after speaker at schools, libraries and conferences. She has an MFA in creative nonfiction and a postgraduate journalism degree. Erin lives in Toronto.

Suharu Ogawa is a Toronto-based illustrator. Her love for drawing started in a kindergarten art school after being kicked out of calligraphy class for refusing to convert to right-handedness. Formally trained in art history and cultural anthropology, she worked for several years as a university librarian until her passion for illustration called her out of that career and into the pursuit of a lifelong dream. Since then, Suharu has created illustrations for magazines, public art projects and children's books, including Why Humans Work: How Jobs Shape Our Lives and Our World in the Orca Think series. She also teaches illustration at OCAD University in Toronto.