Independent Reading Level: Grade 3-5
Awards: CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children's Book Council)
CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book
NAACP Image Award Nominee
California Collections
Anne Izard Storytellers' Choice Award (NY) ( )

This narrative details the efforts of the 2004 Nobel Prize winner, Wangari Maathai, who spearheaded reforestation efforts in Kenya. Textile and oil collages complement the inspirational story of Maathai’s genius in providing Kenyan women with seedling trees to provide food and shelter for their futures. Afterword, Author’s Note, Illustrator’s Note, Glossary, Internet Sources.

Author Donna Jo Napoli and illustrator Kadir Nelson join forces in this picture-book examination of the activism of Wangari Maathai, founder of Kenya's tree-planting Green Belt Movement, and winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. Having grown up with a great respect for the mugumo, or spreading fig tree, Maathai eventually became a veterinary doctor, a university professor, and a woman who encouraged other women to plant trees, thereby combatting the deforestation of her country, and all the ills it brought. Eventually she gained the title 'Mama Miti,' or mother of trees...

Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya is the fourth picture-book biography I have read of Maathai, following upon Claire A. Nivola's Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai, Jeanette Winter's Wangari's Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa and Jen Cullerton Johnson and Sonia Lynn Sadler's Seeds of Change: Wangari's Gift to the World. I read these other books some years ago, in 2010 and 2011, when all of these titles were first being publishers, but somehow I never got to this one. I'm glad I've rectified that omission, as I think it is an inspiring and beautiful book. The narrative here is less of a biography proper, and more of a description of various women seeking Maathai's aid for various problems - sick goats, a lack of firewood, and so on - and her advice to each seeker, to plant trees. Fuller biographical details are given in the after matter. Kadir Nelson's artwork, done in oil paint and fabric, is boldly colorful and immensely striking - well worth seeking out, for its own sake. I don't know that this is a favorite, of the books I have read on this subject - I tend to prefer the Nivola, or the Johnson/Sadler - but it has undeniable worth. Recommended to young tree lovers and environmental activists, and to picture-book readers in the market for inspiring true stories. ( )

I like this book. The entire time I was reading the book I kept thinking about the tree of life. Every tree planted in the book benefited the different people and their struggles. This was a beautiful book. I think this book would pair good with a lesson teaching children how nature benefits humans and we humans should take care of nature. ( )

Wangari is the Mother of Trees, or Mama Miti. Throughout the story she is seen inspiring and assisting her fellow villagers in order to allow for the betterment of the community as a whole. The powerful message of community and the value of nature seeps through each page as you continue to read this inspiring book. This book in particular would be very beneficial when used in an academic lesson. Students of all ages can attain the message that the book provides, yet younger students will gain the most as they are still developing their early communication skills.