Little Pine Cone: Wildfires and the Natural World

Jacky notices that the climate is changing and the summers are becoming hotter and drier...

Little Jacky is a Jack pine cone who loves living in the woods with all of her animal friends. When a fire breaks out in her forest, all her friends run to safety and the firefighters battle the flames. The fire threatens to get too close to a neighboring village and Jacky watches as the people who live there, and the fire crew, take measures to make sure everyone is safe. While the village is protected from the fire, Little Jacky is scorched by the flames and finds out that the heat is important for her to continue her life cycle.

Beautifully detailed illustrations integrate science with storytelling, and children will enjoy finding new bits of information with every read. Author and meteorologist, Johanna Wagstaffe brings her experience with covering wildfires for CBC to young readers and reminds us that fire is an important part of the natural cycle of our forests.

Johanna Wagstaffe is the meteorologist and science host for CBC Vancouver and CBC News Network. She is the author of Little Cloud: The Science of a Hurricane and Fault Lines: Understanding the Power of Earthquakes. With a background in seismology, geophysics and earth science, Johanna has covered a wide range of science stories, from the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire and the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami to the Paris Climate Change Conference. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Julie McLaughlin is an award-winning illustrator whose work includes commissions for editorial, advertising and publishing clients from around the world. Her previous books have been nominated for several awards, and she won the 2015 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction for Why We Live Where We Live. Julie grew up on the Prairies and now resides on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.