One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia

by Miranda Paul

Other authorsElizabeth Zunon (Illustrator)

Hardcover, 2015

Status

Coming Soon

Call number

363.72880966

Collection

Children's Books

Genres

Nonfiction

Publication

Millbrook Press TM (2015), 32 pages

Description

Biography & Autobiography. Business. Juvenile Nonfiction. Science. HTML: The inspiring true story of how one African woman began a movement to recycle the plastic bags that were polluting her community. Plastic bags are cheap and easy to use. But what happens when a bag breaks or is no longer needed? In Njau, Gambia, people simply dropped the bags and went on their way. One plastic bag became two. Then ten. Then a hundred. The bags accumulated in ugly heaps alongside roads. Water pooled in them, bringing mosquitoes and disease. Some bags were burned, leaving behind a terrible smell. Some were buried, but they strangled gardens. They killed livestock that tried to eat them. Something had to change. Isatou Ceesay was that change. She found a way to recycle the bags and transform her community. This inspirational true story shows how one person's actions really can make a difference in our world..… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member sylliu

ONE PLASTIC BAG tells the true story of Isatou, a Gambian woman who tackled the problem of plastic trash in her community by organizing women to recycle plastic bags into woven purses. Not only did she clean up her community and save goats from eating plastic, but she also empowered the women in

her village.

The story is told simply and lyrically. One of my favorite refrains that shows up in different variations, goes like this: “One plastic bag becomes two. Then ten. Then a hundred.” The repetition of this evocative phrase in different settings reinforces a central theme of the story – the actions of one person can multiply and reverberate well beyond themselves.

The illustrations by Elizabeth Zunon are striking with a strong graphic sense. She creates bright and warm collages from plastic bags, African patterned cloths, photographs, and painted surfaces.

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LibraryThing member Mishker

A true story of an empowered woman who chose to fix a real problem in her community. Isatou Ceesay noticed plastic bags accumulating in her town in Garmbia. The plastic was useful, but it didn't degrade after people were done with it and soon one plastic bag became a many discarded plastic bags

causing many issues. Isatou decides to solve the problem by recycling the bags into something new.

An inspirational story with a strong message that can empower kids to solve a problem in their own community. The writing is simple, but with a strong message of how something small can build exponentially. Isatou's character shows determination and insight. The setting is brought out through the colorful and graphic illustrations. This is a great book for any classroom, especially if you wanted to try your own plastic crochet.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

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LibraryThing member Sullywriter

An inspiring true story of a Gambian woman who tackled the problem of plastic trash in her community by organizing women to recycle plastic bags into woven purses.

LibraryThing member hlevy

This books tells the story of one woman's efforts to recycle plastic bags and the impact it has on her town and its people. Isatou Ceesay grows up in Njau, Gambia and becomes aware of the impact that plastic bags have on her small village. These bags litter the streets, cause goats to get sick from

eating them, and they are home to mosquitos that cause malaria.

As an adult, Isatou and her friends begin to wash the bags, cut them into strips, and crochet them into purses. At first they do this in hiding because others would mock them. Later, Isatou and her friends take these purses to market and sell them. This helps to clean the streets of her village and provide her with money from the sale of her wares.

Through the author's note and the timeline provided at the end of the book we learn more about Isatou and her work with the Peace Corps and the Njau Recycling and Income Generating Group. This is a wonderfully empowering tale for women.

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LibraryThing member melodyreads

empowerment; recycling

LibraryThing member hjaksha

This is a true story about a girl who helped her town find ways to recycle plastic bags as well as clean up her town.
Ages: 6-8
Source: Pierce County Library

LibraryThing member wichitafriendsschool

Plastic bags are cheap and easy to use. But what happens when a bag breaks or is no longer needed? In Njau, Gambia, people simply dropped the bags and went on their way. One plastic bag became two. Then ten. Then a hundred. Miranda Paul chronicles the inspirational journey taken by Isatou Ceesay.

Isatou, who takes it upon herself to collect discarded plastic bags and recycle them. These bags pooled water bringing mosquitoes and disease. Livestock died from eating the bags and gardens choked on them. Isatou brings change by gathering her friends to clean the bags and weave them into beautiful purses. Selling the purses earns money to replace dead livestock and build a healthy community. Elizabeth Zunon's vibrant illustrations depict the amazing transformation made by one woman's mission to save her village.

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LibraryThing member Robinsonstef

The true story of how one woman looked at the plastic bags littered around her and came up with a way to make a difference. When Isatou Ceesay was growing up the bag she was using to carry items through her village ripped, and when she released it into the wind, she knew it would once again become

part of the dirt. All around her she saw people using plastic bags and began to use them herself. Over time she noticed plastic bags on the ground, hundreds discarded by people when they were ripped or broken. As a grownup, Isatou looked around and saw the beautiful Earth with colored bags everywhere. When she finds out that farm animals have been swallowing the bags and dying she decides to act. Grabbing at first only a few bags, and then as many as she can carry, she brings them home. With the help of her friends she washes them and hangs them to dry. Once her sister teaches her to crochet Isatou and her friends begin cutting the discarded bags into long strips and they crochet them into bags. People laugh at them and call them names. But, when they bring the bags to the market place they begin to sell. Isatou earns money and the garbage piles continue to shrink.

The bright colors and textured illustrations really draw in the reader. I loved seeing how Isatou saw a problem and instead of complaining, she decided to make a change. The change started with her, but her friends helped and together they made our planet prettier. This is something we can all do! Looking around we all see trash and things that are falling apart. It is amazing to think that if we all decide to clean up our area that eventually we will have a clean Earth.

An excellent book that helps show how we can think outside the box and reuse materials. Great book to read to kids to discuss recycling and reusing items that are broken and can no longer be used for their intended purpose. I love that this is bases on a true story!

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LibraryThing member Jessica5858

Isatou is the main character in this book and becomes frustrated that her village is littered with plastic bags, the goats are eating them and it is killing them. She has an idea and recruits friends, the women clean the bags, cut and crochet them into purses. Despite villagers mocking her, Isatou

sells them at the village and she makes enough money to buy a new goat. Before long, the village is clean and naturally beautiful again.
Ages: 4-9
Source: Stephanie discovered this as we were collaborating on a Social Studies lesson plan
I would use this book for synthesizing.

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LibraryThing member railheater

One Plastic Bag was a very stirring, memorable story based on real-life events. There were many things that I absolutely loved about it.

First, I thought the collages were so cool. I loved the mixture of colors with lively patterns and how they blended a variety of surfaces together in a way had me

running my fingertips over the pages and imagining their many textures.

I also loved reading the handful of native words in the Gambian region. I very much appreciated the glossary/pronunciation guide in the back of the book to help me say them correctly as I was reading. Together, they were such a beautiful complement to the already intriguing pictures.

The Timeline and For Further Reading sections were a welcome surprise. I really enjoyed seeing these unexpected references as well as the real-life pictures the book was based on. I thought they were definitely a nice addition to an already alluring sensation.

Finally, the story itself was just amazing and inspiring for me. I loved how the way plastic was seen changed and then changed again despite what others thought. For me, the mockery of others felt like the biggest drawback of the whole situation, so I think my favorite part of it all would have to be how the story was able to impart how satisfying it is to have faith in yourself and what can be.

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LibraryThing member ebrossette

Paul's story about Isatou Ceesay focuses on environmental activism, and how a group of women begin a recycling program for plastic bags in the Gambia. It also introduces the concept of what is biodegradable and what it not. I liked the amount of descriptive words used in the story. The book could

be used to teach children about recycling and what they can do in their own communities

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LibraryThing member nbmars

This true story is about Isatou Ceesay of Gambia, in West Africa, who found a way to recycle all the discarded plastic bags that were accumulating in ugly heaps along the roads. Water collected in them and attracted mosquitoes. Goats were eating the bags and dying. Isatou came up with the idea of

washing the bags, drying them, and then crocheting them, making them into recycled purses to sell both in town and online. Other women in her village helped.

A note by the author explains how she traveled to Gambia as a volunteer teacher, and was astounded by all the garbage piled everywhere. Someone told her about Isatou and she went to meet her. The women in Isatou’s village shared stories about their work, and how they now had healthier families, better income, and increased self-confidence.

The book ends with a glossary, pronunciation guide, timeline, and suggestions for further reading.

West African Illustrator Elizabeth Zunon has created beautiful colorful collages to accompany the story.

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LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26

Author Miranda Paul and illustrator Elizabeth Zunon tell the story of Isatou Ceesay in this poignant and inspiring picture-book biography, chronicling how the Gambian woman came up with a solution to the mounds of plastic trash strangling her small village. Although she had noticed the growing

problem of plastic waste while walking through the village, it was the death of one of her grandmother's goats - strangled by the plastic bag it had eaten - that inspired Ceesay to begin working on the problem. Collecting the bags, she came up with a way to rework plastic into thread, which she and a group of women used to weave purses. This recycling effort was initially met with ridicule, but eventually it proved successful, not just as a means of using old plastic bags, but as a source of income for the women. Many good things would eventually come of this project...

I have enjoyed quite a few of Miranda Paul's picture-books, particularly her non-fiction titles like Water Is Water: A Book About the Water Cycle and Little Libraries, Big Heroes, so I was excited to pick up One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia. I found the story itself engaging, and Isatou Ceesay's innovative solution to the problem confronting her and her community quite inspiring. It was wonderful to read, in the afterword, that the community center that sprang from Ceesay's project now includes the first public library in the region! The accompanying artwork from Zunon, whose own Grandpa Cacao: A Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to Family was such a delight, includes collage elements that utilize (among other things) used plastic bags.

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LibraryThing member ms_rowse

I've been reading more children's books this year and some of them have made me miss teaching English. This is one of those books--what a great story about a group of people who saw a problem and made a plan to fix it. Would totally use this book to launch a research project unit. Loved the

resources at the end of the book to learn more about different regions of Africa.

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