Green machines and Other Amazing Eco-inventions by Meadows, Michelle
Published by Random House Children's Books on 2024
ISBN: 9780593488041
Genres: Non-Fiction
Format: Early Reader
Source: MSL Book Review
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This informational book uses the image of the Lorax and other characters from the Seuss book to introduce the reader to many interesting eco-inventions The Lorax is the narrator. Inventions are described using rhyming couplets with simple words and short sentences, for beginning readers. The last section of the book uses prose, longer words and more complex sentences to explain how inventors do what they do. This book is meant to open young readers up to inventions that solve ecological problems of all kinds, from polluted riverways to animal poachers.

The book leans hard into the Seussian rhyming couplet format, but the rhymes are forced and clunky. In describing a portable water filter: 

“Flip the whole thing over.
Glug, glug, glug, glug. Glug.
Safe drinking water flows into a clean jug.” 

The illustrations are mixed-media collage, combining photos with characters from The Lorax. In one description of drones being used to plant trees, there’s an image of the Oncler and his Super Axe Hacker superimposed over a photo of a deforested area. 

The connection between a beloved literary character and environmental inventions should work but the writing is uneven and unenjoyable. This book is not recommended.  

Reviewed by Deanna Contrino, SLMS/MLIS, Young School Librarian, Saco