A children’s book to help young minds begin to understand about reducing carbon and environmental choices has been published by First Bus in North and West Yorkshire.
‘Tinyfoot and Evie’s Adventure to Tiny Street’ features Evie the electric bus and her friend Tinyfoot. And a life-size Evie character visited Beeston Primary School in South Leeds to the surprise of youngsters in its Year 1 class, who enjoyed a first reading of the book by local councillor Annie Maloney (Labour, Beeston & Holbeck).
This colourful tale takes young readers on a trip where they meet lots of characters and learn about how electric buses can help reduce their carbon footprint and the cleaner air benefits to communities.
To accompany the book, First Bus has also created an activity pack with colouring-in sheets, word searches and education resources for use by schools and parents.
Also travelling on the bus were Cllr Andrew Scopes (Labour, Beeston & Holbeck) and is a governor of the school and Cllr Peter Carlill, Deputy Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) Transport Committee.
Lucy Mottram from First Bus North & West Yorkshire said:
“This is a little book with a big message. We came up with the idea as a simple and engaging way to tell the story of how much bus travel is changing and its role in supporting climate change targets.”
Cllr Maloney, who is also the transport engagement lead for Leeds City Council at WYCA, said:
“We had so much fun reading all about Evie the electric bus, whilst sat on an electric bus! It was lovely to see the children so excited at learning and talking about sustainability.”
Copies are available from www.firstbus.co.uk/west-yorkshire/about-us/first-bus-storybook All proceeds raised from sales will go to Macmillan Cancer Support, the national charity partner of First Bus.
Cllr Carlill said:
“This book is a fun way of introducing children to the importance of choosing more sustainable ways to travel and the impact electric buses have on our environment.
“We want to create a zero-emission bus fleet here in West Yorkshire by 2036, so our youngsters will be seeing many more of these buses on our roads in the years to come.”
Cllr Scopes added:
“We’re always keen to find new ways to encourage reading and it was great to give the children an experience to bring the story to life and help them hear about sustainability.”
Lucy Mottram added:
“The story not only introduces the benefits of public transport in a fun way but also encourages children to think about making greener choices from an early age. We’re really pleased with the result – the designers and illustrator have done a brilliant job.”
The book has been designed by an agency Cravens and illustrated by Emily Cooksey.
This post is based on a press release issued by First Bus
Main photo: Cllr Annie Malonie reading the children on the bus
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