Marjory's River of Grass

Marjory Stoneman Douglas,

Fierce Protector of the Everglades

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

Christy Ottaviano Books

(Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

(pub. 4.15.2025

40 pages

Ages 4 - 8

Author and illustrator: Josie James

Character: Marjory Stoneman

Overview:

" As an environmental journalist and conservationist, Marjory Stoneman Douglas spent her life fighting to preserve the Florida Everglades. Now celebrated as a subtropical paradise with a diverse ecosystem, the Everglades was once considered a worthless swamp. Marjory recognized the wetlands as a treasured river, home to an array of species unlike anywhere else in the world—and she was determined to help protect it.

This is the story of how Marjory’s incredible vision and unwavering tenacity led to the preservation of one of the most unique regions on Earth."

Tantalizing taste:

"In January 1930, the members of the National Park Service arrived... Birds sang, woodpeckers tapped, frogs croaked, and insects buzzed as the observers slogged beneath the majesty of a cypress dome.

The Everglades put on a spectacular show for the delegation. Roseate spoonbills displayed their bright pink feathers. The sunset lit the sky on fire, and more stars than the visitors had ever seen scattered themselves across the darkening heavens.

The National Park Service told Congress that the Everglades was a subtropical paradise full of the most fascinating life on land, in air, and in water, worthy of becoming a national park.

Unfortunately, Congress was in no rush to make a final decision. This meant trouble ..."

And something more: Josie James explains in the Author's Note of Marjory's River of Grass: "In 1997, 1.3 million acres, 86 percent of Everglades National Park (which had been set aside as wilderness in 1978), were named the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness to recognize her contributions to the protection of the environment."

"Be depressed, discouraged, and disappointed at failure and the disheartening effects of ignorance, greed, corruption, and bad politics - but never give up."- Marjory Stoneman.