Books that children read help to shape their perception of the world. Therefore the writer of stories for children has a responsibility to create tales that serve as a guide to the natural imagination and the virgin innocence of a child.   We cannot tell children what is, or should be, but rather we must help them to understand what it is that THEY see and what it is that THEY wish to see happen. Children experience the world without prejudice or discrimination. As adults we cannot tell them what, or even how to think but we can empower them to appreciate that their ideas, their thoughts and their feelings have value.   This presents a difficult task to the adult writer who is generally a creature of prejudice, discrimination and disempowerment.    The world of Arktel that Menkit Prince has created is a reflection of our world that children are well aware of, but many feel helpless to deal with.     In this book Menkit describes a world where there is cruelty and greed, and she describes how this leads to the destruction of both life and beauty. Dr. Seuss did this in a way that children understood in his wonderful book The Lorax, a children's book with a message so powerful that it was banned from the libraries of the State of Oregon in the United States by pressure from the forest industry.   Menkit's book goes a little further than Seuss because her tale of the greed and cruelty of those who are takers, not givers, is given the uplifting addition of hope and it is a hope that is provided by the empowerment of children.   Can children save the world?  The answer to that is that our only hope for the survival of all that is beautiful and alive is that they must.   When I read a children's book, I look for one virtue more than any other and if I find it then I see a book that has value. That virtue is empowerment.   With Arktel, The Planet That Only Children Can Save I see a tale that educates, inspires and empowers.   
Arktel: The Planet Only Children Could Save is a provocative story for children of all ages. It will give you a new appreciation for our beautiful Earth and her plight and the most helpful steps you can take to contribute to the healing of our world. Highly recommended!
A disturbing but truly inspirational story which will see adults reflecting on our progressive destruction of this fragile earth and children understanding the power they have to correct our wrongs. Menkit’s beautifully written book inspires the ripple of conscience and determination for change in us all.
Menkit’s fable is a feeling tale of loss and hope. When all seems lost, there still remains faint glimmers of hope in the human heart. She is optimistic in the face of evidence to the contrary. Perhaps that is the basis of true hope.
What Others Say


Wildlife Protection Association of Australia

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WPAA

http://www.wildlifeprotectaust.org.au


Here at WPAA we read a lot of fiction. For some decades now, we have read hundreds of Government reports, white papers, green papers, orange papers etc, etc. Everyone knows that the government departments write the World's best and worst fiction, and we've read it all. So it was with great pleasure that we recently had an opportunity to read a fiction novel that focuses on the environment. Titled Arktel: The Planet Only Children Could Save by Menkit Prince, the story starts when a space traveller from Arktel and his family witness the explosive demise of the Planet Tarjez. Using technology unknown to Earthlings, the family can scroll back through history and watch as uncontrolled Industrial development on Tarjez bring the Planet to ruin. So the children decide that Arktel is facing the same degradation, and decide to campaign to slow the mad industrial growth on Arktel. How the children save Arktel is an amazing story of courage and enthusiasm, hope and realism. They run into the same problems human activists on Earth face daily....threats, legal threats, ridicule, even violence towards them. We won’t spoil the story for you by giving the plot away, but it's a book every child (and every adult) should read. It's well written in large text, has some great illustrations, and is easy to read. *WPAA
People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

Philip Wollen OAM

Australian of the Year Victoria, 2007

www.Kindnesstrust.com

Jill Robinson MBE

Founder & CEO

Animals Asia Foundation

www.animalsasia.org

CAN CHILDREN SAVE THE WORLD?

Arktel, the Planet Only Children Could Save is a modern parable for children who wonder what the future holds for them.  Two children from the planet Arktel witness from their father’s spacecraft the destruction of a neighbouring planet that results from the greed and short-sightedness of its rulers. They return home and mobilise the children of Arktel to make sure that this cannot happen to their beautiful globe and its plants and animals. Of course, the people making money from the death and destruction don’t like that idea much.

Prince is a vegan, activist and author from the Northern Rivers area in New South Wales, Australia. Her story is set on an alien planet to illustrate the universal message that unity and determination can solve serious problems. The kids on Arktel don’t just rely on adults - they go out and take action themselves to fix environmental issues, just as the kids of planet Earth will need to do. The issues include pollution, overpopulation and, of course, animal agriculture, which, as one of them says “is using up more raw materials such as land and water, than all the other industries put together.” The children’s first step, therefore, is getting everyone to eat plant-based foods. True on Arktel and true on Earth.

This is an entertaining story for all ages. Its large print makes it ideal for beginning readers but it’s equally suitable for reading to younger children. It has engaging characters, heroes and villains and even a burgeoning romance between two of the main characters. At the end, the children of Earth make an appearance, but we’ll leave their role in the story for you to discover.

Prince’s story is delightfully illustrated by Linda True-Arrow and has a foreword by Indian politician and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi (daughter of Gandhi). It is a story that not only addresses the problems that kids see every day on the news but also gives them some hope and inspires them to take action. As Paul Watson (of Sea Shepherd) says on the back cover “When I read a children’s book I look for one virtue .... that virtue is empowerment.”

http://www.peta.org.au/activism/can-children-save-the-world/

Capt. Paul Watson

Founder/President

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (1977 - )

Co-Founder - Greenpeace

Co-Founder - The Greenpeace Foundation (1972)

Co-Founder - Greenpeace International (1979)

Director for Greenpeace (1972-1977)

Director of the Sierra Club USA (2003-2006)

Director of the Farley Mowat Institute

Working Partner with the Ecuadorian National  Environmental Police and the Galapagos National Park

In Top Twenty Environmental Heroes of the 20th Century by Time Magazine 2000

UK newspaper The Independent selects Watson as one of the planet's top ten eco-warriors.

www.seashepherd.org

www.myspace.com/captainpaulwatson

http://www.facebook.com/captpaulwatson

Dr. Will Tuttle,

Author, The World Peace Diet

www.worldpeacediet.org