''Moot: The Story of an 8-Year-Old Dutch Girl Who Wants to Save the World'' -- a picture book for children ages 4-12

                                ''MOOT''


 EXCERPTS

                                                                a children's picture book by Daniel Halevi Bloom for ages 4-12 and parents and teachers worldwide






                ''Moot: The Story of an 8-Year-Old Dutch Girl Who Wants to Save the World''

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

"I think we should start thinking about taking all the cars and trucks and taxis and buses off the roads, all around the world, in order to lower our CO2 emissions," said Moot, an 8-year-old Dutch girl who lives in a small village outside Amsterdam.

 

"But Moot, that's just not possible, said her mother. "People need cars and taxis and buses to go to work, and take children to school, and for families to go on vacations in the summer.

 

And in Amsterdam and London and Paris and New York, taxis are in-dis-pen-sable," said her father, enunciating each syllable in that long adult word so that Moor could understand it better. "Your idea is a good one and is to be commended, but Moot, it's a moot question. We just can't do it."

 

Moot didn't look in-dis-pen-sable but she did look in-con-sol-able. Every time she had a new idea about how to save the Earth from CO2 overload, her idea was mooted by the grown-ups.

 

"They just don't understand me," said Moot, trying to console herself.

 

But Moot had other ideas and she was not one to give up quietly and go away without a fight.


-------------------------------------------------------




Moot was trembling, as she often did when she felt misunderstood.


"What are you doing?" her older sister Lila asked.


"I'm trembling, can't you see?" Moot replied. "I just can't stand it when nobody understands me!"


"I do!" said her grandmother Bella. "I do. Don't give up. Think of another idea and another and another that nobody can moot."


So Moot came up with a new idea, and she explained it this way.


"Why don't we ask the government to paint the atmosphere pink!" she shared. "Yes, let's paint the planet pink!"


Mother was perplexed and Father was confounded.


"What?" they both said in unison.


"If we paint the planet pink, and if we paint the atmosphere pink, then we will be able to see all the CO2 emissions in the air," Moot said, happy that she had come up with another brainstorm of an idea. "I read about this in a book. I think it's a sterling idea. It could really wake people up if they saw all the pink CO2 molecules all over the place, in our homes and outside where we play and work and go to school and drive and fly."


Older sister Lila put her hands up in the air.


"I hate to tell you this, Moot, but your idea is just not possible to do," she said. "First of all, there is not enough pink paint in the Universe to do what you are proposing. And two, the government would never allow it. Maybe Disneyland in Florida will allow it for one day a year, but that's all. Sorry, sis, but I've got to moot your idea before it goes any further."


--------------------------------------------



"Well, if we cannot stop all the cars and if we cannot paint the CO2 pink, then how about if we stop flying airplanes?" Did you know that airplanes, both commerical jets and cargo jets -- and military jets too! -- contribute tons and tons of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere every day? We need to stop flying altogether. Are you with me or against me?"


Professor Octaviasdottir who was visiting Amsterdam and was a friend of Moot's parents said: "But Moot, if we stop flying, how am I going get back to Iceland from Holland? How are business people going to conduct global business if they cannot fly to meetings and conventions and forums worldwide? How will academics deliver keynote addresses in all four corners of the globe if we do away with airplanes altogether. It's a sterling idea, of course, but it's not practical. It's a moot question, that."


Moot was getting tired of getting mooted every time she spoke up, but she was not one to give up easily and she heeded her grandmother's advice to never never give up.


"I won't give up," she said to the professor. "I have more ideas where these first three ideas came from. Just you wait."




"I have a good idea about bicyles," said Moot. "Since I'm only 8 years old I like to ride my bicycle, and I know that many grown-ups also like to ride their bicycles for fun and exercise and even to get to work and go shopping."

"What's your idea?" asked Lila, Moot's older sister.


"Well, since cars and trucks and buses and taxis and airplanes put alot of CO2 intro the atmosphere every day, tons and tons of CO2, what if more and more people around the world started using bicycles to go to school, to get to work, to go shopping, to get some exercise, and just to have fun exploring the countryside and even the local city streets," Moot said. "In fact, I think using bicycles for trans-por-ta-tion is a capital idea! What do you think?"

Lila nodded her head and said she agreed. Grandma also said yes. Mother and Father also said yes. In fact, everyone in the house where Moot lived agreed with her, and no one mooted her idea.

But then visiting Professor Octaviasdottir from Iceland chimed in: "Moot, your idea is great, and I also love to ride my bicycle in the summertime in Iceland, but think of the people who live in very cold climates in the winter, like in northern Norway or northerm Sweden or Lapland or Moscow or St. Petersburg in Russia. Or in Alaska or Hokkaido in Japan. It's so cold in the winter and it snows a lot. How can people ride bicycles on streets covered with snow and ice?"

The professor said: "I am sorry to say this, Moot, but I must moot your bicyle idea as a year-round idea to save the planet from excessive CO2 emissions, but as a summertime idea, it's perfect. I like your idea, Moot. So I am only half-mooting it."

Moot seemd happy that the professor had only half-mooted her bicycle idea and was satisfied that she was making progress in coming up with ideas to save the planet.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

[5 more ideas follow and then]...












---------------------------------------- The Final Chapter ----

After putting nine different ideas into the discussion, with little success, little Moot decided to take a different tack. She wanted to suggest something that nobody would moot. So she sat down next to her grandmother Bella in the living room and listed her last suggestion on how to save the planet.

 

"What if we all worked together, all of us in every nation on Earth, to stop runaway global warming before it runs away with our future? " Moot asked Grandma Bella, who nodded her head as if to say "yes, yes, that's my little Moot talking now!"

 

"What if we put aside all our differences, nation by nation, and put our shoulders to wheel and our noses to the grindstone, and just worked hard day in and day out for the rest of our lives, always with our chins up and our hearts strong, to solve the problems that are putting our Earth in danger? All of us, just not me and you, but all of us," Moot added. 

 

Her mom and dad were delighted to hear their daughter talking like this, and Mom said:

 

"You know, Moot, that's a very good suggestion. And it's not moot. You've hit the nail on the head. We do need to work together on all this, and now. Like tomorrow."

 

"Moot, you're great!" said Dad. "We need to make a sustaibale world, and we need to do it in a positive way. Moot, you're just 8 years old but what you just said sounds the way an adult would speak. You are really growing up fast!"

And with those words from her mother and father, Moot was a very happy little girl.