Meet the glaciers–before they disappear. A companion in spirit to The World Without Fish, which calls attention to the plight of our oceans for young readers and has over 245,000 copies in print, Meltdown is the kids’ guide to the glorious but endangered world of glaciers. Glaciers may not be as sexy as rain forests or coral reefs, but they are just as vital to the health of the planet, and just as powerfully eloquent in their canary-in-a-coal-mine status. Packed with information, grounded in the latest science, lively in its writing, illustrated throughout, Meltdown gives readers an eye-opening overview of glaciers and how important they are: There are over 100,000 glaciers covering 10% of earth’s landmass, acting as protective shields to cool the atmosphere and holding almost three-quarters of the planet’s fresh water. We learn how glaciers were formed (some over two million years ago), how they move and carve the landscape, how they’re replenished, and how scientists study them (the bluer the ice, the older it is). We discover secrets of earth’s climate history hidden deep in a glacier’s core–and understand the delicate ecosystem of animals and plants that thrive in their frigid worlds, from keystone species like salmon to curiosities like ice worms.

nd we learn how climate change is threatening the glaciers, in turn, threatening all the benefits they bring the planet–and all the positive steps readers can take to become climate activists, reduce their carbon footprint, and save the glaciers.