Saving Orb

By Nicola Sherry and Juliana Oakley

Follow Eve and her cousins as they discover what appears to be an alarming threat to our beautiful world. As you read through the intriguing pages you will wonder why everything lost its colour. This question can only be answered in Saving Orb. You will also learn about the damage humans have caused to m

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diversity Press
• Release date: Jun 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781739957568

Book preview

Chapter One

How Can This Be?

Eve wondered why she had not seen a rainbow for such a long time. It had rained buckets in recent weeks, and then sunshine bursts came and went, so she expected to see some. She felt extremely lucky as her bedroom window faced eastwards, which meant she had seen many gorgeous sunrises too. Deep in thought, she realised she hadn’t seen the sun rise for several days. In fact, the days seemed darker for longer. She also noticed the sun was not shining as bright as it had before. It was also astonishing for her to see everything that had once looked vibrant with colour close up and beyond looking as if they were fading as each day went by.

July 2021 was a month Eve would certainly never forget. She woke up one morning and found all that she could see out of her bedroom window had turned white, black or grey. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, as this was the first time she had seen grey trees and black flowers. There was nothing unusual about seeing white flowers in the garden below, as lots of snow drops would appear in March and white hydrangeas could be seen in summer. What was different about these white flowers was that they were not meant to be. The crops growing in her father’s vegetable patch would usually burst with different shades of green or reds and look delicious. Not any more.

Even the hills in the far distance were a darker grey, some were also black. Fields and meadows just merged into what looked like a patchwork of murky grey blankets. Rivers of running water looked like thick, black tar creeping forwards.

Wildlife became almost unrecognisable. At times, the animals were camouflaged so they could not be seen at all, unless they moved and became exposed by a contrasting colour of maybe white or a lighter grey. It was weird to see deer, hares and squirrels looking like silhouettes.

Birds had become fluttering black splodges and had stopped singing. Eve felt really sad as she could not tell the difference between one type of bird and another. She also realised that the robin who regularly sat on her windowsill puffing his chest out to show off his spectacular red breast had stopped visiting her. It was as if he was too embarrassed to show himself. Eve was very upset by this, as they had become really fond of each other.

Grabbing a pair of binoculars from her bedside table, she turned her gaze afar to the village nestling in the valley below. There she noticed that anything man-made had not changed in appearance. She could see red brick work on the buildings, terracotta and charcoal slate roofs, beige stone walls, various shades of cars, street lights and the equipment erected in the children’s park had all kept their colours. People she saw bustling in the streets did not look any different either.

This was very puzzling. Eve could not understand why everything natural and wild had been blighted and looked like they were not going to survive, but all that had been artificially created had not been affected at all. She believed that once she understood the cause and the reasons behind it, she might be able to help change things back to how things used to be.

Discovering new things and facts about the world around her was one of Eve’s favourite pastimes. She had learned from reading about flamingos that they eat pink shrimps, and when they digested them their skin and feathers also turned pink. They always looked so healthy. The saying ‘you are what you eat’ came to mind. She thought to herself, perhaps this is what was happening to the environment and wildlife.

All kinds of thoughts were whirling around in her head. Anyone reading her mind would most certainly have believed her reasoning was quite in depth and advanced for her years.

She started muttering to herself.

‘Every living thing has a food chain. Their supplies come from food and drink they get from land, sea or natural flowing water. Like the flamingos, they rely on these food sources to stay and look healthy. Could it be that the unfamiliar countryside and animals I can see out of my bedroom window have lost colour due to eating and drinking food sources that have lost goodness, vital vitamins and minerals? Is this why everything looks so unhealthy?’

She pondered further. ‘Was there a connection between humans not being affected by the changes because they were the ones making the changes to the world’s environment, where food sources grow and waters flow? Was this why anything created artificially had kept their colourful glow?’

‘If that is so, how selfish!’ Eve exclaimed out loud. ‘How utterly selfish!’

Eve’s mummy called from downstairs. ‘Eve, who are you talking to?’

‘No one Mummy, I will be down in a minute.’

‘Don’t forget your cousins are coming for a sleepover tonight,’ Eve’s mummy announced.

Eve had become so caught up in what was happening outside she had forgotten her cousins, Emmie, Esme and Lily, would be arriving soon. She felt warm inside, as she knew she would be able to rely on them to help her solve the puzzle, and hopefully change things back to the way they were. At least she hoped they would, and most of all she hoped that they could!

Chapter Two

Grim Lessons

Three giggling little girls, wearing bright, bold coloured clothes raced up the garden path clamouring to the front door. Six arms and legs were flailing around to get to press the doorbell first. Esme succeeded and Emmie and Lily looked at each other in dismay. They gave a huge fed-up sigh. It was clearly not the first time they had lost to Esme.

‘It’s not fair!’ Emmie cried.

Overhearing her cousin’s remark Eve burst open the door, and said, ‘Don’t worry about that Emmie, I have something very important I need to share with you all. Come quick.’

The race began again. ‘First to the top of the stairs!’ Esme shouted with excitement, eager to win again.

She loved a challenge. Emmie and Lily instantly responded. Eve just let them get on with it and made her way upstairs behind them at her own leisurely pace; she wasn’t interested in the race.

Emmie and Lily started clambering up the stairs as fast as they could, leaving Esme two steps behind. They were all laughing and saying very loudly, ‘Me first. No, me first!’, trying to push each other out of the way.

They ran up the stairs with all their might and it sounded like a herd of elephants had been let loose. All of a sudden they slumped to the floor at the top of the stairs, landing in a heap. A great opportunity for Esme! She stepped over them hurriedly, ran into Eve’s room at full pelt and launched onto her bed. She bounced in the middle several times as if she had landed on a huge pink marshmallow. Emmie and Lily caught up and then pounced on the bed. Then came bounce, after bounce, after bounce. All three were now a mishmash of bodies merging into one, with legs and arms bulging out from the centre of the bed. They were bumping into each other and off each other until they broke their rhythm and stopped.

‘Ouch!’ snapped Lily. ‘You caught my arm, Esme.’

‘Well you did my leg,’ Esme chirped up.

Emmie added, ‘One of you clipped my ear, but I didn’t say anything.’

Eve looked bewildered. She would normally join in the fun but she was so distracted with what was happening outside, she couldn’t bring herself to muster up the enthusiasm.

‘Stop squabbling, you have only just arrived,’ she said, as if she was scalding them.

‘Why are you being so grumpy, Eve? And why do you look disappointed? Aren’t you pleased to see us?’ asked Esme.

‘Of course I am,’ she replied. ‘But look what’s happened out here.’ She took the girls over to her bedroom window, and they instantly froze and gasped in shock.

Eve asked them, ‘Have you not seen these changes from your bedroom windows?’

‘No,’ replied Esme. ‘It’s the first time I’ve ever seen anything like it before.’

‘Me too,’ said Emmie, sounding quite alarmed.

Like Eve, they were both really moved by what they were looking at. In fact, they were quite worried.

Lily did not comment. She was too busy listening to what the others were saying.

‘Why is everything so dull and dark?’ asked Esme. ‘Why can we

Reviews for Saving Orb

[Biswa Jit · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

?Saving Orb?

This is a story that is both regaling and imaginative but with a paramount message for all children about availing our planet now and for the future.As you read through the intriguing pages you will wonder why everything lost its colour. This question can only be answered in Saving Orb. You will withal learn about the damage humans have caused to mother earth, and about climate change. As you turn the pages you will additionally meet wondrous characters along the way, and visit an exquisite place inhabited by unique people who showcase their erudition and conceptions.Eve is a wondrous character who is inquisitive and descries the outlandish and unwonted changes to the appearance of the natural world through her window.Saving Orb was such a delectable read. What i relished about it was that I was able to read my child a veridical and veracious story about how our habits have transmuted the world for the worst. The author has very expeditiously and perspicaciously referred to history by including modern ways of learning.Wonderful concept with resplendent illustrations.It goes on an exhilarating adventure and has such a paramount message. We all need to be more kind to our comely planet and this book certainly opened our ocular perceivers.I personally loved reading this book. One of a kind and I enjoyed reading it If you want to know grab your copy and start reading.This book is definitely worth the purchase and worth the read.