Bailey Finch takes a stand by Ingrid Laguna

Bailey has a special friend - her dog Sheba. She takes Sheba for a run down at the creek near their home nearly every day. Bailey loves to climb trees and this bush retreat is her happy place but one day Sheba is badly hurt when she swallows some glass. Sheba is rushed to the vet but this incident means Bailey now looks more carefully at the creek. She sees all the dreadful litter and degradation of the natural environment. 

"Bailey found chocolate wrappers, old tennis balls, bits of foam, coffee cups, beer cans, a Coke bottle, rubber bands, string, plastic packaging and tinfoil."

A few days later when she visits the creek Bailey means a boy called Israel. He is a natural history walking encyclopedia. He talks about the birds and the frogs and even shows Bailey a photo of a platypus - but we do learn is a very long time since any platypus were seen in this area.

Bailey is a girl of action. Things are hard at home because her mum has died and her father has retreated into his grief. Bailey wants to reconnect with her dad and she hopes if she can inspire the community to assist with cleaning up the creek then he might notice her and move on from his deep sadness. Meanwhile she is also desperately worried about her precious dog because he seems to be getting worse not better. Every visit to the vet is so upsetting. 

Bailey and Israel visit the council office but they won't help them because they are too young so she and Israel decide to clean up the creek anyway. They make some posters and flyers and they invite the community to come on Saturday. It is a wonderful affirming scene when lots of people turn up and heaps of hessian bags are filled with debris and even better every one is keen to make this a regular Saturday event. 

I picked up this 2021 book because it was a Environment Award for Children's Literature, Fiction, 2022 winner.

Bailey’s desire for change stems from sentiment: the creek where she’d spend time with her parents, and her dog’s sickness from that same creek. If we all started to initiate the change needed in the places we regularly interact with, we can collectively make a difference – and Israel and Bailey’s friendship is a testament to this. Better Reading

This book is an easy read with that all important happy ending. I had one tiny quibble. Early in the story Bailey mentions giving her dog Sheba some chocolate cake - this is very dangerous. Dogs should not be fed any chocolate. I wonder why how the book editor missed this? I do like the cover. If you are studying local government with your class you could use Chapter 17 as a way to discuss the role of councils and local community activism. Here is an interview with Ingrid Laguna where she talks about this book.