Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the trees of Kenya, written by Donna Jo Napoli and illustrated by Kadir Nelson -- Simon & Shuster Books for Young Readers, 2010 -- is a beautiful introduction to 2004 Nobel Peace prize winner, Wangari Maathai, known as Mama Miti (Mother of Trees) and the Green Belt Mo... more

Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the trees of Kenya, written by Donna Jo Napoli and illustrated by Kadir Nelson -- Simon & Shuster Books for Young Readers, 2010 -- is a beautiful introduction to 2004 Nobel Peace prize winner, Wangari Maathai, known as Mama Miti (Mother of Trees) and the Green Belt Movement. Styled like a folktale, Maathai, a Kenyan environmental activist, advises the village women who come to her for help to plant trees...for food, for firewood, to protect livestock or clean the groundwater. Brilliant illustrations awash with the colors of a Kenyan landscape combine oils with the prints found in traditional African textiles.