Additional information
by Jeremiah Humphries (Illustrator), Susanna Lehvavirta (Introduction by), Roger William Toshio Grothe (Author)
This is the world's first green roof book for children. There's A Sponge Growing On The Roof uses a simple story and brilliant digital paintings to explain how green roofs can help the environment, families, and even our beloved pets. Protecting the environment in the future - especially in urban areas where most people will live - will require a much deeper understanding of the human-environment interaction and the role of green technologies in preserving our natural resources. The story begins with a soaking rain flooding a families pet bunnies. The children try to barricade the bunnies home, but the torrent of water gushing from the roof top is too much. As the parents look for solutions to the flooding, they come across a centuries-old technology called, "green roofs." By design, green roofs are able to absorb up to 70% of the rain that falls and can help cool the home in the summer. A wide variety of plant material also provides a home for helpful insects and birds. After careful study, the family decides to build a green roof. They finish right before another storm and watch eagerly to see if the new green roof can help to keep their bunnies dry.
Author Biography
As early as I can remember, people around me were buildings things. My dad was always repairing things around the house and creating ways to store all of our wilderness canoe trekking gear. On canoe trips into the Quetico Park in Canada, he would make all sorts of "Swiss Family Robinson" gadgets and furniture out of sticks, rope, and whatever else we could find. During visits to visit my grandparents home in Honolulu, I would watch them working in their orchid hot house. Building benches, repairing the lathe walls, and making compost bins. They encouraged me to help and soon I was making all kinds of things too. When I wasn't gardening - I was building. Today, I'm building green roofs all around the world, conducting green roof research with colleagues from Finland, and writing children's books about green roofs and other serious environmental topics. My goal is find out what we can do more of, better, or differently. One area I am especially passionate about is reducing the energy required to build green roofs. Even green roofs have a carbon footprint. One of the most important ways to reduce a green roof carbon footprint is to use the only truly natural and organic soil component - pumice. I earned a Master of Science degree from San Jose State University and currently live in Mendota Heights, Minnesota with my wife Pamela and our four grown children. I am the president of Aloha Landscaping and a joint venture partner with LMS Guam in Tumon, Guam. Together with my friend and colleague Bob Salas of LMS Guam we have built the first two green roofs on the remote Pacific island of Guam.
