Ahead of Saturday's International Day of Climate Action, children's author Jyoti Rajan Gopal says storytelling can help young readers understand the changing climate and feel empowered to protect the environment.
Gopal, an award-winning author and former kindergarten teacher, joined BTPM's Ryan Zunner to discuss her latest book, Arctic Adventure: A Tundra Tale. The story follows a young girl and her mother who encounter an Arctic fox family during a storm, exploring the connections between humans and wildlife.
Gopal says picture books can make complex subjects more accessible to children by grounding them in emotions such as curiosity, wonder and joy.
"Stories are portals through which children can explore the world safely," Gopal said.
RYAN ZUNNER, HOST: A book like this really connects children and shows that children's books can set that sort of lifelong passion for the environment, for the world, for the things around them. You spent years listening to a lot of those curious questions that kids might have inside of a classroom. What did they teach you about using stories to make a big, complicated world feel within reach?
JYOTI RAJAN GOPAL, GUEST: Picture books can really take a very complex subject and break it down into something manageable that just speaks to the emotion of the story that maybe the author themselves were feeling when they were researching or writing that story, whether that's curiosity or wonder or joy or connection or surprise.
And for me, stories are portals through which children can explore the world safely.
ZUNNER: Talking specifically about your latest book, Arctic Adventure: A Tundra Tale, going inside the pages here, a storm brings a young girl and her mom together with an Arctic fox family. How does that encounter illuminate the connection between our world and the wild?
GOPAL: The main takeaway that we wanted for our young readers was to experience the magnificence and the wonder of the Arctic tundra.
The particular scene that you highlight, we really wanted to show kids that both the fox family and the human family can both experience the beauty of the tundra, but also the dangers of their environment.
And that despite the fact they are so different, though humans and wild creatures live differently, yet ultimately we are all part of the same natural world, and that we are all deeply connected.
ZUNNER: Certainly, while Western New York and Southern Ontario can feel like a tundra sometimes, it's not so. How do you take what seems like a faraway world, right, the Arctic tundra, and help children — and, in a way, parents — see the care needed for the planet?
GOPAL: The Arctic tundra and Southern Ontario and Western New York are actually quite connected. Surprisingly, first of all, the area is a stopover and a winter home for many Arctic species of various birds. So if the tundra is affected in any negative way, you're going to have a real decrease of bird populations in this area.
And then the Arctic tundra acts as a global air conditioner, and so that actually changes the patterns of weather. So they are really connected, interestingly enough.
But I think for young children, what's really important for families to try to do is to help young children see that they can connect with nature. It is a part of their world. The Arctic tundra is far away, but still connected to our land where we are here in Western New York and Southern Ontario.
You have beautiful, dramatic natural spaces, waterfalls, and gorgeous — and miles and miles of beautiful trails. So experience that with your children. Go out, invite them to become familiar with those spaces.
I think it's important for children to connect with natural spaces so that they can care for those spaces. Encourage them to notice what's happening through the seasons.
I think it's important for kids to help care for their local spaces. So, are park rangers needing help? Do local community gardeners need more help with pollinator gardens? Can you have organized cleanups at the beaches? I know there's the Alliance for the Great Lakes. They have an adopt-a-beach program, so can you be a part of that?
Look out for ways that you can be involved in those backyard spaces.
ZUNNER: Thank you so much. That's Jyoti Rojan Gopal, author of the children's book Arctic Adventure: A Tundra Tale. Thank you so much, Jyoti.
GOPAL: It's been my pleasure. Thank you for having me, Ryan.
