Franklin in the Dark for Earth Hour

 
We love hearing stories about how everyone is celebrating, and we’re always touched by the unique ways that parents find to engage their kids in Earth Hour.  Many families use this time to talk about climate change. We’ve heard about families playing all kinds of games, from glow-in-the-dark tag to board games by candlelight, going on ghost walks or stargazing, and, of course, reading.
Reading by flashlight or candlelight is a popular way to celebrate Earth Hour, and there are lots of great books for families to enjoy together.  This year, one of our favourites is Franklin in the Dark (recently re-released for its 25^th anniversary).  The story follows Franklin as he learns to deal with his fear of the dark, something that a lot of kids have to cope with every night and particularly during Earth Hour.

To celebrate his 25^th anniversary, Franklin is helping WWF make this Earth Hour special for his many fans by sharing Earth Hour activity pages.  Everything from word scrambles to mazes to colouring pages can be downloaded at EartHourCanada.org.
Since I’m not a parent myself, I went straight to the source to see what a long-time Franklin fan thought about celebrating WWF’s Earth Hour with Franklin in the Dark.  According to my mom, reading is one of the best family activities around, something we all enjoyed together and Franklin in the Dark is a great touch-point for Earth Hour.
“Franklin in the Dark is all about courage, something the future generations will really need to deal with an issue as big as climate change,” she said.  “If I had grandchildren (hint, hint), I’d definitely read it to them during Earth Hour.”