‘Bondi & Poppy Help Heal the Planet’ is the Perfect Children’s Book to Read for Earth Day

Bondi & Poppy Help Heal the Planet is the perfect children’s book to read for Earth Day. Written by Judith A. Proffer, published by Juju Press, and illustrated by award-winning artist Yoko Matsuoka, Bondi & Poppy Help Heal the Planet won the 2023 Moonbeam Spirit Award.

In Bondi & Poppy Help Heal the Planet, an Australian koala and a California bear gently introduce children to the impact of climate change and offer everyday practices to help save both animal and human habitats.

Written in rhyme format, Bondi & Poppy Help Heal the Planet is a tender and sometimes playful conversation starter for even the youngest of readers, addressing the realities of global warming while offering hope and encouraging action.

Be mindful of waste, of not using too much

Like water and lights and paper and such.

Use your great brain and walk when you can

Talk with your family to make a smart plan.

Author Judith A. Proffer resides in Southern California. In late 2019 she left behind a particularly challenging fire season in Los Angeles for a three week holiday in Australia, quickly discovering that she had entered the country's worst fire season in recent memory. The region she spent Christmas Day that year (Kangaroo Island) was decimated by fire just days after she left. Bondi & Poppy is her response to the ferocity of the back to back fire seasons she experienced that year.

Judith A. Proffer is also the co-author of When We Stayed Home (a tribute to how young children navigated big feelings and cheered themselves on during the upheaval of pandemic) and Broadway Baby.