Book Review - 'The Crown' by Emily Kapff

'Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.’

- Native American proverb


'We have never met, you and I. I speak from the future which is not yours yet. It is being shaped now. [..] You have the power to pass down... a different kind of crown.'

- 'The Crown' by Emily Kapff



One of the most powerful and effective environmental message books I've ever read. It is about a young girl in the future - who could be any poor child, though I see her as a personification of Mother Nature, as well as a self-proclaimed princess (and queen) - who is on a hill of rubbish and waste, with her horse. This "princess" wears a crown made of rubbish, waste, chemicals and every other kind of mistake made by humanity, brought on by pollution and short-sightedness and late stage capitalism.

What is killing the earth is on this child's head - this is her generation.

Then, on the desolate landfill hill, she finds a book filled with fairy tales, and earth's wonders, such as its animals, wildlife, trees, and oceans. With that spark of hope, with that message about stories and how humans can and must do better, maybe her crown can look different in the future...

'The Crown' - a timely call to action, a wake-up klaxon for responsibility, a demand to do better to save our one and only planet we live on. It could not have come out at a more vital, pressing time. Climate change is real, and we need to do what we can to fix it, to heal the earth, for future generations.

Don't deride - this is our home we are talking about. Don't rob our children of the beautiful, wonderful, safe, healthy and free things in the world. Like breathable air.

I'm not a fan of the dreary, bleak, muddy, sometimes uncanny artwork, but it is suitable for the book, and it is in the service of getting its message across. I'm sure the inclusion of the horse is symbolic of life and the lost beauty of the earth or something, too.

Recommended to all ages.

Final Score: 3.5/5