Sometimes people underestimate kids but often, they’re the ones who can change the world. Meidert DeJong writes a powerful story about six children from the Dutch village of Shora who help restore the habitat for the native storks.

The village of Shora was home to many storks, but over the years, the number of storks dwindled. Lina began to wonder why the native storks stopped nesting in Shora. She presented an essay at school about the absence of storks, which sparked curiosity among her classmates. None of the children knew much about storks. They began to wonder.

Lina, Jella, Eelka, Auka, Pier, and Dirk worked together to investigate why the storks stopped visiting Shora. They discovered that storks originally nested in trees. However, the salty sea storms sprayed and destroyed the trees. The villagers began to set up wagon wheels on top of their roofs so that storks could nest in the wheels. And it worked.

However over the generations, the shape of the roofs began to change, from being flat to steep and pointy. The shape of the new roof design wasn’t ideal for wagon wheels. Over time, the wagon wheel nests that storks depended on began to disappear. Hence, the population of the storks in Shora declined. Other villages that still retained wagon wheels had storks visit and nest annually.

The kids shared their findings with the whole village and together they brought back storks to Shora. They were just six kids but they made a big difference.

The Wheel On the School is a compelling story how children can do big things. It’s a book that you don’t want to miss.

Recommendation

The Wheel of the School. Author Meidert DeJong.

This book is ideal for children in grades 2–5. It’s inspiring and teaches kids to take action.

Keep reading.

-Mackenzie

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