One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of Gambia (Millbrook Picture Books)

Product Information

Congratulations, Isatou! Here’s a picture from the event on March 12, 2020. Thank you for being an inspiration to women, environmentalists, and entrepreneurs worldwide.

The women, in those days, they were using the bags to light fires when they wanted to cook, especially during the rainy season when all of our firewood was wet. Author Miranda Paul and illustrator Elizabeth Zunon tell the story of Isatou Ceesay in this poignant and inspiring picture-book biography, chronicling how the Gambian woman came up with a solution to the mounds of plastic trash strangling her small village. Although she had noticed the growing problem of plastic waste while walking through the village, it was the death of one of her grandmother's goats - strangled by the plastic bag it had eaten - that inspired Ceesay to begin working on the problem. Collecting the bags, she came up with a way to rework plastic into thread, which she and a group of women used to weave purses. This recycling effort was initially met with ridicule, but eventually it proved successful, not just as a means of using old plastic bags, but as a source of income for the women. Many good things would eventually come of this project... Animal lovers may be disappointed to find out that most airlines in the UK do not allow pets to travel in the cabin with their owners and there is a charge to bring your pet in the hold. Exceptions are made for service animals, like assistance or guide dogs which will travel with their owner free of charge.This tour is hosted in partnership with Women Initiative the Gambia, a charitable organization. A special thank you to Lerner Publishing Group for donating books for several villages and schools. up to 10 kg of meat, potatoes or dairy products from Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland. You are not allowed to bring this type of food into the UK from any other country; Some people laugh at these women. Others call them "dirty." But they believe what they are doing is good. And, eventually, others realize this, too. The purses sell, there is money to buy more goats, the village is clean. Supporters outside of the Gambia can host a school visit or virtual Q&A with Miranda and Isatou to help us raise funds for books, transportation, and programming for Gambian youth! Learn more here. NEW! During the COVID-19 outbreak and school closures, many publishers are allowing educators to read picture books to their students in closed-link recordings. If you want to read One Plastic Bag on a video for your students, fill out this online form from Lerner Publishing to request permissions.

All Done Monkey * Crafty Moms Share * Educators Spin on it * Growing Book by Book * Imagination Soup I’m Not the Nanny * InCultural Parent * Kid World Citizen * Mama Smiles * Multicultural Kid Blogs * Spanish Playground People thought I was too young and that women couldn't be leaders. I took these things as challenges; they gave me power. I didn't call out the problems- I called out solutions." Learn how to count in Wolof, and try converting these amounts of U.S. Dollars into Gambian dalasi. Involves addition, some multiplication or division. Grades 2-4. One Plastic Bag is the story of how one woman cleans up her community, inspiring friends and neighbors to help create plastic, recycled purses, and reduce the trash in her village.

Wonderfully inspiring! The Author's Note provides more details and there is also a Wolof Glossary and Pronunciation Guide, a Timeline and Suggestions for Further Reading. The illustrations deftly incorporate plastic bags. Highly recommended!!! Isatou Ceesay named “Queen of Recycling in The Gambia” as new documentary is released from Climate Heroes. Read more or watch the video here. This two-per-sheet graphic has cut and fold dotted lines so that students can print, cut, and fold to make their very own One Plastic Bag bookmark! Silver: Lee and Low Books * Chronicle Books * Capstone Young Readers * Tuttle Publishing * NY Media Works LLC/KidLit TV Bronze: Pomelo Books * Author Jacqueline Woodson * Papa Lemon Books * Goosebottom Books * Author Gleeson Rebello * ShoutMouse Press * Author Mahvash Shahegh * China Institute.org * Live Oak Media

Isatou Ceesay's weaved basket breaks as she is carryng fruit. She finds a plastic bag and carries her fruit there instead. Isatou likes her bag but notices that they accumulate more and more on the ground, causing serious damages to the soil and animals that roam. An idea is born. What if she could reuse these bags in a way that they would not end up thrown on the floor? Isatou begins sewing bags together into purses and thus an envronmental hero is born. A young woman, Isatou discovers that plastic bags are being used more and more in her village- and being tossed aside, littering the ground. MISSION: To raise awareness for children’s books that celebrate diversity, and to get more of these books into classrooms and libraries. Students could research and create a presentation for their own town/city council to ban the use of single use items such as plastic bags, straws, coffee cups, etc.

Curriculum

The plastic was flying everywhere. What normally people did was just to burn the plastic bags to be able to get rid of the pollution. Otherwise, our animals, they will come across the bags and they will eat them. And when they eat them they will die and then we would lose a lot of income out of that. NEW! During the COVID-19 outbreak and school closures, many publishers are allowing educators to read picture books to their students in closed-link recordings. If you want to read One Plastic Bag on a video for your students, fill out this online form from Lerner Publishing to request permissions. View additional teacher resources here. The following table outlines what medicines and medical equipment you can take in your hand and/or hold luggage. Luggage restrictions on medication Item CREATORS: The co-creators of this unique event are Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom and Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book/Audrey Press. Learn more about these phenomenal ladies here. People thought I was too young and that women couldn't be leaders. I took these things as challenges; they gave me more power. I didn't call out the problems -- I called out solutions." -- Isatu Ceesay

Explore a world of innovative ideas to upcycle, recycle, or repurpose plastic into usable items or beautiful artwork. One Plastic Bag wins Eureka! Honor Award for nonfiction from the California State Reading Association. Read more here.At first, though, the plastic bags are wonderful. People carry things easily with them, children poke holes and drink water from them. Isatou thinks the colors are so beautiful. But, everyone simply discards the plastic on the ground and soon it becomes a problem. Classroom: This story gives teachers the perfect opportunity to incorporate science into literature. In the 3rd grade standards particularly, students begin learning about recycling and being responsible environmentalists within society. I would first read this book to students and then go into a short lesson about recycling and reusable materials. With this knowledge given to students, I will ask them ways to eliminate plastics in their own life. Students will then create an “Environmentalist Stanly” (I hope you are familiar with flat Stanley). They will create their environmentalists and then be asked to take pictures of the doll with the ways in which they will reduce plastic usages. This will create a fun activity that students can do both at school and at home if they so wish. Students will be given time in class to complete these projects and parents will be notified as well about their project. At the end of the project, I hope to have another conversation with students on how to reduce plastics and the things they realized about themselves participating in the activity. It is rare to find a children’s book with such an important message about our environment, that is set outside the US, and is illustrated so beautifully! One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and The Recycling Women of The Gambia is the inspirational, true story about littered plastic bags and the woman who stood up and transformed her community. It is the perfect book to introduce environmental topics to kids like recycling, and also teaches that even one person can make a difference. The story begins on a walk in Njau, Gambia. This PDF document includes statistics about plastic trash in America and beyond, as well as action ideas for kids to help the earth. I would use this book as an introduction to a recycling unit and/or ways to help the environment. Students may not realize the impact plastic bags have on communities, so this book could help them make sense of that. This book could also be used when talking about the dangers of pollution and animals; students may not realize that animals are affected by people polluting. Since this book is set in Gambia, a country in West Africa, it help students see that pollution is everywhere and not just in the United States. Knowing this, it would be a great opportunity for students to compare and contrast pollution from Africa and the United States. Students can also understand a bit more about the culture of Gambia, since the book features many new vocabulary words from Gambia. After a unit, students can create their own solutions to pollution, like Isatou did with the plastic bags.