JEN CULLERTON JOHNSON
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CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Seeds of Change: Planting the Path to Peace
The Biography of Nobel Prize Winner, Wangari Maathai

Work Together to Fight for Girls' Rights & Plant Trees

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 Wangari's simple message of working together echos in her strength of character. She saved her country of Kenya by teaching women and children how to plant trees.  As a young girl in Kenya, Wangari was taught to respect nature. She grew up loving the land, plants, and animals that surrounded her—from the giant mugumo trees her people, the Kikuyu, revered to the tiny tadpoles that swam in the river. Although most Kenyan girls were not educated, Wangari, curious and hardworking, was allowed to go to school. There, her mind sprouted like a seed. She excelled at science and went on to study in the United States. After returning home, Wangari blazed a trail across Kenya, using her knowledge and compassion to promote the rights of her countrywomen and to help save the land, one tree at a time. Seeds of Change: Planting a Path to Peace brings to life the empowering story of Wangari Maathai, the first African woman, and environmentalist, to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Engaging narrative and vibrant images paint a robust portrait of this inspiring champion of the land and of women’s rights.
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Awards & Honors
​Green Earth Book Award Honor 
Newton Marasco Foundation
2011 Notable Books for a Global Society list 
International Reading Association
2011-2012 Great Lakes Great Books Awards ballot 
Great Lakes Great Books
​Notable Children’s Books 
Smithsonian Magazine
Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent in Illustrations 
EMIERT/ALA

Amelia Bloomer Project 
Feminist Task Force 
American Library Association (ALA)

“Starred Review” 
Kirkus Review

The Story of an Environmentalist Wangari Maatahi (Chapter Book)

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The Story of Environmentalist Wangari Maathai brings to life the empowering story of Wangari Maathai, the first African woman, and environmentalist, to win a Nobel Peace Prize. This chapter-book edition includes black-and-white illustrations as well as sidebars on related subjects, a timeline, a glossary, and recommended reading.
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Teacher Curriculum Gudies

storyofwangarimaathai.pdf
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seeds_of_change_teaching_guide.pdf
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More Writings

​Jen Cullerton Johnson's adult writing has won several distinctions, including travel grants from the Ambassador Award, and the highly coveted Illinois Arts Fellowship. Several of her essays, short stories, and freelance articles can be found in literary journals on the web and in print.

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Freelance Articles

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K-5 Curriculum

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Green Heroes is one in a series of Green Literacy Thematic Teaching Units, organized around the 3 Cycles of Comprehension, explicitly so for grades 3-4, and 5, and beyond. They are aligned to the Common Core State Standards. We model how teachers and students can use these texts and digital media as catalysts for critical dialogues and hopefully action toward earth stewardship. Teachers and students reflect that effective action taken toward educating young people includes how solutions work to change systems, including unjust systems like those of race, class, and gender and use of natural resources.

Restorative Justice

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This collection of essays on restorative justice surveys the different contexts in which restorative justice can be utilized in the practice of law and elsewhere. Essay included focused on the Karma Garden and its restorative benefits for incarcerated youth.

Creative Non-Fiction Essays

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