For scientists like myself, the public “debate” over global warming has been very discouraging, not only because it has meant a lack of action on this serious issue, but also because it is yet another sad commentary on the state of American science literacy. As a writer, I’ve been fortunate to be able to make some effort to try to improve this situation.

I’ve written about global warming for a long time. It is covered in all of my college textbooks (which are in the subjects of astronomy, astrobiology, mathematics and statistics), as well as in my two most recent books for the general public: Beyond UFOs and Math for Life. I’ve also written an online global warming primer that goes through the basic science. But while I hope all of those are helpful, I’ve long realized that the most important audience for learning about global warming is kids and their parents. After all, kids are the ones who will have to deal with the world that we give them, and parents are particularly attuned to wanting better futures for their children. For that reason, I decided to have my fourth children’s book take a break from the themes of space and space travel that I focused on in my prior books, and instead to focus on inspiring kids to want to stop global warming.

The new book (available November 1, in both English and Spanish), is called The Wizard Who Saved the World. Although teaching about the science of global warming was one of my major goals, I’ve tried to make the book much more than just a simple science primer. More specifically, I always focus my writing for children (and adults, for that matter) on trying to connect with readers on three related levels: education, perspective, and inspiration. The education piece is the science content, which in this book is primarily about global warming, though I also include a fair number of related topics. The perspective piece involves seeing ourselves and our planet in a new light; in this book, I do this by having the main character (a boy named Diego) imagine himself as a giant wizard able to hold the world in his hands, using the scale of a model solar system that I helped to create in Washington, DC (the Voyage model, located outside the National Air and Space Museum). The inspiration piece comes in trying to get kids to dream of how much better the world could be if we all work together. For this book, I chose to do this by having the main character at first become discouraged that he could not really do magic, but then to realize there are many things that he could do in real life that can help save our world. In the closing scene, he catches a glimpse of himself in a mirror, and imagines that he sees himself as a wizard after all.

Although the book is a picture book, it should appeal to a wide age range. The art and story are simple enough even for young children to enjoy, but the story also has some sophisticated science going on behind the scenes, and that science is explained in more detail in sidebars that I call “Big Kid Boxes.” As a result, even older children and adults will find much in the book that they probably do not already know. Finally, I included a “note to parents and teachers” on the last page, in which I explicitly acknowledged that some of them might not believe in global warming, and tried to explain why they should nonetheless recognize it as real science and a real risk to our planet. From early reactions, I have at least modest hope that even some of the most hardened global warming skeptics will recognize that the risks are not worth taking.

Note: If you are in a position to help with distributing the book to elementary school libraries, I’d very much appreciate your help. I am willing to donate a fair number of books for this purpose (I have donated copies of my previous children’s books to more than 10,000 elementary schools), but need help with the distribution logistics and costs. If this is up your alley, please contact me.