No doubt, you've tried to keep your kids shielded from some of the ugliest images that came out from last year's Gulf oil spill (and many of them got a lot of replay yesterday with the spill's anniversary). But there's also no doubt that they've probably seen, for instance, pictures of oil-coated wildlife from the Gulf.. and it likely upset them. It's not easy to deal with these kinds of events with kids... since we ourselves can fell helpless and hopeless in the face of disaster, we know our kids are definitely having trouble wrapping their heads around it.

Louisiana author Lynda Deniger's new book Patti Pelican & the Gulf Oil Spill can serve as a great aid for showing your kids what's being done to save wildlife in the Gulf region. Using characters from a previous book, Deniger shows the threat poised by the spill... but also the work done by good people to protect affected animals. The accompanying illustrations give kids a glimpse into the reality of last year's disaster... but also the beauty of the region, even at one of its ugliest moments.

For a late pre-school or early elementary school child, Patti Pelican & the Gulf Oil Spill does a very nice job of explaining difficult issues in a manner children can understand... and helps them realize that there is hope in the situation.

I'm giving away the review copy of the book that I received from the publisher... for details, check out the longer review I wrote at sustainablog.