Another book to add to the CitizenKid line up, A Voice for the Spirit Bear by Carmen Oliver and Katy Dockerill inspires children to use their voices and speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.  Reminding me of the infamous line by the Lorax from the book of the same name by Dr. Seuss, “I am the Lorax who speaks for the trees.” Well this is the story of Simon who speaks for the bears who don’t have a voice to speak for themselves.  Along the way Simon finds his voice,, overcomes a stutter and wins the respect of people from all over the world.

With climate change and environmental advocacy such important topics now, it is important to have books like A Voice for Spirit Bears to let young people know their voice can make a difference.  When it can seem impossible for one person to truly make a different, inspiring books, like the CitizenKid series demonstrate to our young people they have power and their voices can make a difference.  One powerful voice can ignite a movement as we have seen time and time again. With all of the bad policy coming from the leaders of today, we can see time and time again, youth rising up and letting their displeasure be known.  Young people are advocating for their safety, their education and for the environment and they have books such as these to thank for guiding and inspiring. The big, colourful illustrations by Katy Dockerill bring this non-fiction book to life, introducing us to Simon and the bears he so cherishes.  As always, there is a wonderful non-fiction section at the back to teach the reader about the spirit bears and how we can make a difference.