Ezra's Earth Publishing

The Day The Trash Came Out To Play is a unique and whimsical picture book written by David M. Beadle and illustrated by Laurie A. Faust. Featuring an underlying message about the importance of cleaning up after oneself, the story begins when a young boy thoughtlessly discards a candy wrapper on the street of his beautiful home town. This starts an escalating cataclysm as, piece by piece, litter spreads out over the land. A desperate situation is in need of a diligent remedy before the whole town becomes buried under a strong-willed pile of trash! A most delightful story to share, The Day The Trash Came Out To Play would make a welcome and popular addition to both school and community library picture book collections.

The Day the Trash Came Out to Play is an enchanting children's tale, at the heart of which is a compelling message about recycling and preventing litter. The classic adage "Think Globally, Act Locally" is exemplified by the travels of Robin's piece of trash. The tale of Robin and the town of Sutton Nash teaches children that we each have an important responsibility to help keep our own neighborhoods clean so that we can all enjoy the outdoors. Putting trash in the proper place and recycling when possible is a simple way to keep our communities safe, healthy and happy.

The Day the Trash Came Out to Play delivers a very important message in a wonderfully creative way. Kids who spend time with this book will undoubtedly have images of Robin's one careless toss, and the commotion it causes, as a strong reminder of how much a single individual can effect the environment.

This delightful story makes it fun to pick up trash. In an increasingly disposable environment, The Day the Trash Came Out to Play should be one of our bedrock "fairy tales," so important in building ethical behavior in our young. That it is also fun to read aloud, should make it a staple of storytellers.

-Linda Moore, Librarian and Storyteller
Arroyo Vista Elementary School
South Pasadena, California

My students loved the book and they felt extremely motivated to clean up around the school after reading it. We have had a recycling program for a few years now at school, but now the students are bringing recyclables from home to add to our collection; the money goes into buying new bins and other items for the recycling program. I plan to read this to every class I have from now on, and every child that I come into contact with. It has such an important message that I have been trying to teach to my students since I started teaching, but it conveys the message in a fun yet educational way.

A delightful book that teaches young and old the importance of taking individual responsibility in keeping our environment clean and preserving our natural resources.

This book is so entertaining that the children don't realize they are being educated about an important environmental issue. It is never too early to empower today's youth, tomorrow's decision makers and tax payers, to make positive choices which will affect their lives and the lives of everyone around them. ÊThis book does just that.

Meg Tabascsko, School Program Manager
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority

The Day the Trash Came Out to Play is a wonderful example of how we may instill the principles of civic responsibility and neighborhood pride among our community's youth. By acknowledging the theme of this story, youth will learn the importance of proactively making a difference in their community, one neighborhood at a time.

-Joyce Ayvazi, Chair;
Committee for a Clean & Beautiful Glendale, a Keep America Beautiful affiliate

This book is such a delightful story. It tells the moral tale of how one piece of trash, carelessly thrown, can create more trash and dirty up the otherwise shiny and clean town of Sutton Nash. The colorful pictures and rhyming verse easily makes this a treat for young readers. My oldest boy, who is seven and is learning to read, can read this book to my youngest boy, who is five. Not only are the words easy for him to pronounce, but it also teaches him a lesson in that one simple careless toss of a piece of paper, can infest the whole town, encouraging more trash to "come out and play". I would encourage anyone to get this book for the young readers out there, for at home or school, for the fun and easy way it brings out its message. It can also be a guide for adults to, asking them to recycle.

The Day the Trash Came Out to Play teaches an invaluable lesson: that trash never disappears, it just goes somewhere else, from a local town to round the world. It's amazing how many institutions fail to heed this fundamental law of the environment. By educating kids at an early age, you help grow a better generation of environmental stewards. Every child needs to read this wonderful book.

Dr. Curt Ebbesmeyer, Flotsam Tracker

A great illustrated story about the environment and learning how you and the community can keep your town clean and litter free. When Robin threw his wrapper out to the wind, he thought it looked cool doing tricks in the wind, but what was really happening was he was letting all the other trash comeout toplay. When the trash came out of their safe place, the whole town became a mess. Will Robin get help from the other people in town to clean up the trash that excaped? See how this town stops the mess from happening again.

Lisa, Book Review Café

A warm story about one cold day in the cleanest town in the land. A young boy tosses his candy-wrapper which, trapped by the wind, becomes a sort of de-powered super hero. The candy wrapper wants nothing more than to be discarded properly. Meanwhile, other city garbage decides to crawl out of waste bins and trash cans "because they saw someone go first, they thought it was okay." Soon enough the boy realizes the error of his ways and unites the town in cleaning up the streets. The last illustration sweetly captures the wrapper taking a dive, with a happy salute and Superman smile, into the central trash receptacle. A fun story with lively colorful sketches (completely with whimsical details like the generic "human" on the trash pail gesturing appropriately to the actions of those around). The book encourages kids (from 3 to 8) and their parents to help litter find its home.

The Day the Trash Came Out to Play by David M. Beadle is the perfect tool for parents, written by a parent, to teach their children the importance of keeping our earth clean. This book is every parent's dream.

This delightfully recounted tale about trash could be set in any city in any country in the world. Through colorful illustrations and whimsical rhyming verse, The Day The Trash Came Out To Play imbues its young audience with important lessons; the solution to the universal problem of littering begins in each of our own neighborhoods. Everyone, no matter what their age, plays a vital role in making our Planet Earth a better place to live.