CCBC booklist are compiled from books we have recommended in various editions of CCBC Choices. Most of these booklists are updated annually. You can also select books from one or more booklists to create a custom list, which can also include additional books from the CCBC-Recommended Book Search.
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Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean: Remembering Chinese Scientist Pu Zhelong's Work for Sustainable Farming
CCBC Review:
A fictional narrator recounts real-life scientist Pu Zhelong’s pest-control efforts with Chinese farmers in the province of Guangdong. Known in the 1960s and 1970s for their lychees and rice, village farmers struggled to eradicate the stinkbugs and leafroller moths that wreaked havoc on their crops. When they began using chemical pesticides, the problem seemed to be solved—until the pests returned even stronger the next year, forcing the farmers to up their pesticide use in what quickly became an increasingly poisonous and futile cycle. Pu Zhelong, who lived in the city of Guangzhou and had studied in the United States, traveled to the village to help the farmers implement a natural form of pest control: wasps that lay their eggs inside moth eggs, destroying the moth larvae before they have a chance to hatch. Cooperation between the initially reluctant village farmers and Pu Zhelong represents the merging of the concepts of soil (“local, rural, humble, and Chinese”) and ocean (“foreign, modern, elite, and Western”), with the goal of achieving environmentally sustainable—and effective—pest control. ©2019 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
Illustrated by Melanie Linden Chan
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 6-10
Age Range:
PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7)
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Format:
Picture book
Subjects:
20th Century
Chinese and Chinese Americans
Environmental Challenges
Farming and Farmers
History (Nonfiction)
Insects (Informational)
Science and Scientists
Diversity subject:
Asian
On CCBC Booklists:
Eco-Reading: Selected Books for Children and Teens about Our Earth and the Environment
Picture Books for Older Children and Teens: Never Too Old
Publisher:
Tilbury House
Publish Year: 2018
Pages: 40
ISBN: 9780884484042
CCBC Location: Non-Fiction, 595 Schmalzer
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Our Recommended Book Search includes access to CCBC-recommended titles based on subject headings created by our staff.
Please send questions or comments about CCBC booklists to ccbcinfo@education.wisc.edu.