Josie Meets a Jaguar

Publisher: Green Writers Press

When Josie Meets a Jaguar in the Amazon rainforest, she and her new friend Lucia discover a secret: The forest is in big trouble. Back in Brooklyn, Josie and her gang are ready for action. To save the Amazon, they create a solar company, award-winning photographs, a new dance and the funnest night ever. Will that be enough to save the forest and the jaguar? Josie is going nuts waiting to find out.

Book 2 of the Josie Goes Green series finds our heroine is back in Ecuador, this time in the Amazon jungle village of Sayaku. When the book starts, Josie and her new friend Lucia get lost in the rainforest and get terrorized by leeches. Then they meet a jaguar and follow her back to the path.  On a crazy hike with the village leaders, they learn that the jaguar's forest home is threatened by loggers.  Back in Brooklyn, Josie and her pals from Book 1, Josie and the Fourth Grade Bike Brigade, work to save the jaguar by stopping the logging. They help Sayaku sell a special solar jar that can make money for the village. They raise money at a dance. They publish photographs in the local paper. They paint a special jaguar logo. Their teacher even invents a new dance. They have done everything they can. Now it will be up to the people of Sayaku to decide whether to allow more logging or to save the jaguar.  Grandma Carmen is on the scene in Sayaku. Josie is going crazy waiting to hear the news.

In each Josie Goes Green book, Josie takes simple, ingenious actions that bring real changes to her neighborhood and the world. As the protagonist in the series, she will inspire young readers to understand environmental issues and take action. Josie Meets a Jaguar celebrates young environmentalists across the world and reminds us that we can make a difference in the fight against climate change.

Josie Meets a Jaguar is co-authored by the Bruno/Handman family—Beth, Kenny, Antonia, and Benjy. The series is inspired by the enthusiasm of the students from P.S. 321, where Beth is Assistant Principal and Benjy and Antonia attended elementary school. Kenny works coordinating environmental campaigns. Benjy teaches ESL and and outdoor skills for children. Antonia works for Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives as a grant writer and communications coordinator. The family is from Brooklyn, New York.

Janet Pedersen has illustrated many books for children, as well as authored a few herself. She is the author and illustrator of Houdini the Amazing Caterpillar (Clarion Books) and Millie in the Meadow (Candlewick Press). Janet lives with her family in Brooklyn, in a neighborhood a little like Josie's.