This is a visually appealing and well-organised book that combines a balance of practical examples with current research and theory. As an educator, I found the book to be both engaging and inspiring, with every chapter containing new information. I particularly enjoyed the best practice stories from the field, set within a local and international context. This approach to the content provides the reader with a valuable and accessible mix of sustainability education ideas that work, along with a robust set of reflections and provocations, and deep thought around the question, ‘Why does it matter?’

One of my measures of a good book is how long it takes me to read it. This book delighted me with its range of topics and depth of content. After reading the first chapter, I decided to tackle the book one chapter at a time and to give myself a few days’ reflection in between each reading. The clear definitions of sustainability, education for sustainability, nature, human-nature relationships and wellbeing helped to frame the whole book. The chapter sequence and the diverse writers’ voices all contribute to a rich and complex body, which represents this field as it is practised across the continents. Most impressively, the text moves easily between theory and practice so that the reader can visualise education for sustainability in action, imagining the possibilities, considering the challenges, and nurturing in children a sense of curiosity, agency, and caring action.

As an environmental educator, I have noted that the most effective education is one that works from the ground up, from the local to the global, from the individual to the group, always referring back to the local environment and our evolving relationship with it. Chapter 2 explores this pedagogical approach by noting the links between nature connection and nature play from an early childhood practitioner's perspective. The importance of ‘real-work projects’ (p. 45) and authentic engagement in real life are stated clearly so that educators, parents, and policy makers can have a clear map for planning, delivering, and refining sustainability programs for young children. Adults are invited to play an important role in children's nature education by ‘rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in’ (p. 47). The book then challenges the reader to address the ‘disjuncture in early childhood practice between promoting stewardship of the environment and the need for critical discussion about human relationships with nature’ (p. 48).

The book has an informed activist approach that is consistently mindful that children are active citizens and are critical and creative thinkers, and they have the right and ability to express their opinions, emotions, and ideas about current issues and possible solutions. Children's voices are a vital part of environment and sustainability discussions, and educators have a responsibility to support children to become lifelong advocates and practitioners of sustainable living. The reader is invited to become a ‘vocal advocate for young children in nature’ (p. 48) and, in turn, to help children to become lifelong advocates. This invitation positions sustainability education within a broad timeframe encompassing past, present, and future stories. It is framed within an ethical pedagogy that involves caring, listening, participation, and hope. These four principles are part of an ‘ethic of care’ that is fundamental to education for sustainability. Chapter 5 explores the complexity of what care means to different people, and the reality that teaching about the environment and sustainability involves negotiation with other educators, families, and children. The writers, Leslie Robinson and Sue Vaealiki, offer support, guidance, and wisdom to help educators navigate issues as they arise and to keep a strength-based perspective on the importance of conversation and interdisciplinary learning to co-construct our world and our future. Their ideas are anchored in keywords such as ‘communities of action’ (p. 118) and ‘the learning journey’ (p. 119). This approach is expanded in the following chapters as the reader is introduced to working models of transformative projects, mainstreaming change, capacity building, and partnerships across communities.

Of the 16 chapters in the book, there are two particularly relevant to my work with the arts and story in communities that have a rich mix of Aboriginal and European cultures. Chapter 6 explores ‘Reconciliation for Sustainability’ and Chapter 10 explores ‘Sustainability Through the Arts’. Both chapters provide an introduction to the topics, but I was disappointed that the ideas were not as developed as I felt they could be. There is a wealth of Aboriginal elders and educators who could have been invited to contribute to Chapter 6, to frame information within the Aboriginal perspectives of land, relationships, respect and story, and move from the construct of ‘eco justice’ (p. 135) to the knowledge of earth as family and community. The 8 Ways pedagogy (Early Childhood Australia, 2012) would help to guide the reader to consider their own way of integrating indigenous perspectives and consciously work from a holistic understanding rather than a compartmentalised and often fragmented Western perspective. This holistic approach could further be explored in Chapter 10’s conclusion that ‘the arts hold rich potential to tell stories of the world around us’ (p. 222). This is a conversation and a pedagogical invitation to frame educating for sustainability through stories and creative arts expression. Theorists such as Kieran Egan, on storytelling, imagination and learning (Egan, Reference Egan1986), and Joseph Cornell, on nature connection and flow (Cornell, Reference Cornell1989), could provide a tapestry of ideas to be considered for future teaching and learning experiences.

I highly recommend this book to all early childhood and environmental educators as a tool for planning and reflection. Every chapter is relevant to contemporary practice in Australia and internationally, providing a rich range of provocations and inspiring examples of best practice. As a reader and an educator, I was thoroughly engaged, inspired, challenged, and entertained.