Lynne Cherry facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lynne Cherry
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| Born | January 5, 1952 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
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| Nationality | American |
| Education | Tyler School of Art Temple University Yale University (MA) |
| Genre | Children's literature |
Lynne Cherry, born on January 5, 1952, is an American writer and artist. She is famous for creating children's books about nature. She also produces films. In 2009, she was honored by the National Women's History Project during Women's History Month.
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About Lynne Cherry
Lynne Cherry grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She studied art at the Tyler School of Art. Later, she earned a teaching degree from Temple University. She also has a master's degree in History from Yale University.
Author and Illustrator
Lynne Cherry is well-known for writing and illustrating many popular children's books. Her books often teach young readers about nature and the environment. She has also started two non-profit groups. These are the Center for Children's Environmental Literature and Young Voices for the Planet.
She has worked as an artist at many important places. These include Princeton University, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Smithsonian Institution.
Famous Books by Lynne Cherry
One of Lynne Cherry's most famous books is The Great Kapok Tree. This picture book has sold over a million copies. It was even on the New York Times best-seller list. The story teaches about the importance of the Amazon rainforest. Many schools use this book. It has been performed as a play or musical in thousands of schools around the world.
Lynne Cherry has written or illustrated more than 30 books. Some of her other well-known books include:
- How Groundhog's Garden Grew
- If I Were in Charge of the World and Other Worries: Poems for Children and their Parents by Judith Viorst
- Flute's Journey, which is about a bird called Flute and its bird migration
- A River Ran Wild, which tells the story of the Nashua River in Massachusetts. It talks about how the river was polluted and then cleaned up.
Young Voices for the Planet Films
Since 2008, Lynne Cherry has focused on climate change. She wants to show how young people can help solve the climate crisis. She started a non-profit group called Young Voices for the Planet.
Through this group, she has made 13 short documentary films. These films are called the Young Voices for the Planet film series. They aim to inspire young people to believe they can make a difference. The films show real stories of young people taking action.
The films have been shown on PBS stations across the United States. They are also used by teachers to help students believe in their power to make a difference.
Inspiring Stories from the Films
The Young Voices for the Planet films show amazing things kids have done:
- In Team Marine, kids in California helped ban plastic bags.
- Dreaming in Green shows students in Florida saving their school $53,000 on energy bills.
- Plant for the Planet features 11-year-old Felix Finkbeiner from Germany. He helped plant a million trees.
- In Save Tomorrow, three 9-year-old girls were inspired by other films. They spoke at their town meeting. They helped change a rule that stopped solar panels on town buildings. After that, solar panels were put on all town buildings.
- Olivia's Birds and the Oil Spill tells about a girl from Long Island, New York. She raised $200,000 to help clean birds affected by an oil spill.
- Longing for a Local Lunch shows how students got fresh, healthy food in their cafeteria. They also learned about "food miles," which is how far their food travels.
- The film Words Have Power features ten-year-old Jaysa Mellers. She spoke to her city council. She helped convince them to close a coal power plant that was causing her asthma.
Lynne Cherry has also written chapters for other books. These include a chapter in the National Geographic book Written in Water. She also wrote "Kids Can Save Forests" in the book Treetops at Risk. She believes in teaching about climate change with hope and solutions. She has shared her ideas on NPR radio and in book chapters like "Teaching Climate Change with Hope and Solutions."
Awards and Recognition
Lynne Cherry's book How We Know What We Know about Our Changing Climate has won more than 15 awards. She wrote this book with photojournalist Gary Braasch. In 2009, it won the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) award for the Best Middle School Science Book.
Her book The Sea, the Storm and the Mangrove Tangle won the first Green Earth Book Award for picture books in 2005. Lynne Cherry wrote and illustrated this book herself.
Lynne Cherry has been an Artist in Residence at many important scientific places. These include Princeton University, the Smithsonian, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She has also been a visiting scholar at universities like the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Cornell Lab of Ornithology. More recently, she was an Artist in Residence at Archbold Biological Station in Florida.
