Reading: GRETA AND THE GIANTS - Zo Tucker (writer), Zoe Persico (illustrator)

"And a little child shall lead them." Not a Bible quote from this picture book spotlighting Nobel Prize nominee Greta Thunberg, though it nonetheless fits her story. Thunberg is the Swedish teen who became an overnight source of adoration and inspiration when she basically (and very descriptively) told world leaders where to get off because they'd spent decades systematically destroying the environment, the planet, and everyone/everything living on it. This picture book colorfully spins a tale of Greta, who lives in a forest that one day is besieged by "Giants" who unthinkingly and (seemingly) without thought begin plummeting the home of her animals friends of trees, water and other resources for their own gain. Greta comes up with a plan to try and save the day, and the end of the book even has helpful resources for kids wanting to learn more about saving the planet, and helping Greta in her fight. The book is great, beautifully done and with lively art to keep kids interested; my only issue with it is a mild one, in that even before Greta young activists from all over the world - Nigeria, the Amazon, South America, and more - have been stepping up and fighting back to save their world, knowing full well that today's crop of adults have ruined it so it's up to future generations to fix. Sadly, not one of them are mentioned or highlighted in this story, even as back-up to Greta's fight, so for me the book came across a bit like yet another story of how the white child/person is the one to set the tone as the leader, doing it first and best to show others the way - when in reality that's just not true. At best, you see people of color here in a few of the kids who come to take up the fight with Greta. Again, not so much a complaint, as something that just felt off to me while reading it. As if the story wasn't so much about the little child shall lead them as it was the little white child shall lead them. It just would have just been nice to see "reality" represented here a bit more, in what's otherwise a great, informative, maybe even life-changing addition to any child's picture book library.  4/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.