Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya a book by Donna Jo Napoli and Kadir Nelson MADE FAR AWAY

We could look at the art of Kadir Nelson all day. He's an outstanding modern American artist (and writer) who frequently draws the cover for New Yorker magazine among others.

This book uses his beautiful images, and the artful prose of Donna Jo Napoli, to tell the true story of Nobel Prize winner Wangari Muta Maathai, known as "Mama Miti," who in 1977 founded the Green Belt Movement, an African grassroots organization that has empowered many people to mobilize and combat deforestation, soil erosion, and environmental degradation.

Today more than 30 million trees have been planted throughout Mama Miti's native Kenya, and in 2004 she became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Wangari Muta Maathai has changed Kenya tree by tree--and with each page turned, children will realize their own ability to positively impact the future.