The Last Straw [Hardcover]

Meet Sippy, the world's last plastic straw

Sippy, a plastic straw who was used once and then discarded, worries what will happen to him when he realizes he can't be recycled. As he flies, floats, and flutters around the planet, he meets animals who are struggling with the plastic problem. He chats with a raccoon with a six-pack ring around his neck, a cardinal whose nest is made entirely of junk, turtles who confuse grocery bags with food, a hermit crab forced to live in a plastic cap, and a startled duck who runs around with a chip bag on her head. Finally, Sippy is swallowed by a hungry whale who is dining on ocean trash! Just when all hope seems lost, he skyrockets to freedom and calls out Together we can fix this! Let's clean our world--let's try!

Parents and teachers of children 7 to 10 years old can use Sippy's colorful adventure--based on real examples of animals in our environment--to raise awareness about the impacts of plastics on nature and to teach children about alternatives to single-use plastics. A powerful lesson wrapped in endless charm, Zoe Matthiessen’s The Last Straw is beautifully conceived, written, and illustrated. You can read it to rapt children or read it alone in your den. It’s that good, that important.
—RON HAUGE, Emmy-winning television writer for The Simpsons and Seinfeld

BRAVO for Sippy, the straw who rails against the very real evils of plastic pollution in this irresistible picture book! Zoe Matthiessen's appealing art, funny rhymes, and essential message are all right on target. The Last Straw will inspire even the littlest of readers to help stem the tide of plastic trash and save the lives of the millions of animals literally caught up in our toxic mess.
—SY MONTGOMERY, naturalist and author of The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Explora