Children of the Throne

Echoes of lore drive Coelho’s eco-fable, which highlights global warming’s impact. Across rigidly rhyming quatrains, a ring-shaped stone pendant leads three children “to a hidden world beneath our tower,” where a “tree grown man” describes the dangers sown by a warming climate. Given crowns of hazel and the magic “to make this madness end,” the children conjure a flute and, like the Pied Piper, call forth rain. When other youths join the climate crusade, they ride Ent-like creatures to trample factories and help inattentive adults move from apathy to care. Layering transparent sprays of color, Johnson’s digital illustrations characterize an Earth with dried river beds, denuded trees, and leaf skeletons, revealing the cost of unchecked warming in a fanciful story that imagines empowered children as a solution. Ages 5–7. (Sept.)