Earth Day, Birthday!

by Maureen Wright, Violet Kim (Illustrator)

Overview

It’s April 22, and Lion and his friends want to plant trees, recycle bottles, and have fun on Earth Day. But not Monkey. He wants to celebrate his birthday. Can he convince the other animals that it really is his birthday? Violet Kim’s humorous artwork, rendered in paper, photographs, and colored pencil, highlight the sunny, friendly world of the animals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662522208
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	07/22/2025
Pages:	33
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Maureen Wright is the author of Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep!, Sneeze, Big Bear, Sneeze!, and Sneezy the Snowman. She lives in Athens, Pennsylvania.

Violet (Jung ah) Kim is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). She lives in Seoul, South Korea, where on most days she can be found drawing, listening to her favorite music, and drinking a cup of coffee. Earth Day, Birthday! is her first illustrated book.

Editorial Reviews

It’s Earth Day, but while a giraffe and cheetah sort recyclables and a lion, tiger, and snake create a compost bin, a small monkey insists that it’s his birthday. Green tips are peppered throughout Kim’s endearing cartoons: a toucan points to a sign that says “Use Cloth Bags Instead of Plastic” and the compost bin reads “Compost Helps A Garden Grow.” Though the Earth Day/birthday wordplay at the heart of the joke may wear thin, the animals’ enthusiasm is motivating. Ages 3–7. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 1—Every animal in the jungle is set on celebrating Earth Day except Monkey, who insists: "It's not Earth Day! It's my birthday!" The creatures all make suggestions for helping the environment. Though there is no explanation as to how these actions better the world, the animals' willingness to help the planet remains commendable. Snake declares, "Let's go start a compost bin…/toss our rotten garbage in!" Finally, as an exasperated lion roars, "'Give me a break!'" Monkey's mom arrives with a birthday cake, causing all the animals to declare that one day can hold multiple significances. Kim's bright, mixed-media spreads include a sign on the lush, green grass that says, "Earth Day is April 22!" and another that reminds readers to "Reuse and Recycle." With outstretched ears, rosy cheeks, and a banana design on his T-shirt, the "silliest monkey ever seen" is a willing participant; he picks up trash and carries a cloth bag for groceries. His behavior merges animal and human qualities; he dangles from the tree by his tail and blows out his candles with gusto. Short rhymes move the story along, but the ending is somewhat abrupt.—Meg Smith, Cumberland County Public Library, Fayetteville, NC

School Library Journal

Can "the silliest monkey ever seen" share a birthday...with Earth Day? It's April 22, and everyone in the jungle--the big lion, elephant, crocodile and even the pith-helmeted snake--is celebrating Earth Day with a day full of planned ecological events. Who should swing into view but Monkey, declaring, "It's not Earth Day! It's my birthday!" Viewing him mostly as a nuisance, the others offer to include him in their projects. The flamingo is planting a row of tiny trees, the zebra is picking up litter, the hippo shops with cloth bags, the tiger is composting and the giraffe sorts bottles, cans, paper and glass for recycling. But the heedless Monkey, while lending a hand, keeps repeating his mantra: "It's not Earth Day! It's my birthday!" Even the lion's roar--"Give me a break!"--doesn't put a dent in Monkey's certainty. And he just may have a point. When he shows all the other animals the yummy birthday cake his mom made for him, everyone is immediately converted. Monkey blows out the candles, and all the animals yell, "Hooray! It's Monkey's birthday AND it's Earth Day!" Wright keeps the verse crisp and bouncy while including an impressive number of ecological activities and a nice variety of animals. Kim's bright pictures combine paper, photographs, and colored pencils. Breezy, with a valuable message tucked inside. (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews