When Marianna Linz moved to Los Angeles, she wasn't sure she could deal with all the concrete, but places like the botanical garden at UCLA, where she works as a climate scientist, calmed her worries and reminded her of what is at stake with climate change.

So she decided to write a children's book.

“I'm trying to educate people, both children and their parents, about the very basic science of the greenhouse effect,” said Linz.

She saw there was a need for a less complicated way to share complicated ideas about climate change for children, so her book Cool for You uses the self-reflective idea of the book itself being a way to share knowledge and to work collectively to solve problems. 

“This is the main scientific idea, 'And the heat that warms the earth right here is trapped by the Earth's atmosphere,'" said Linz, reading from the book. "Some of that air is Co2, it comes from cars and me and you." 

“I feel like there's been a lot of feeling of helplessness, like there's not much we can do," Linz said. "So beyond sort of this large scale action, the book focuses on a few little things that individuals can do.”

She knew the book would have to be visually compelling to engage kids, so she found Austin-based illustrator Caitlin B. Alexander and the two worked remotely to realize the book's vision. In this digital age, the two have never met in person. 

Of course, when it comes to climate change, things can get political fast, even with a children's book. Linz said reactions to the book have fallen across the spectrum, but she insists its message is not political.

“We aren't telling you to do anything that's not just based wholly in the science,” said Linz. “This is how we can make Co2 go down. It's about it being a collective learning and collective action.”

The book is available online in its second printing run. Linz said writing it has been a great learning experience for her, and she's open to doing another as soon as the right idea comes along.