Advice between Kingdoms
How the Hays moved Trash Mountain
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Our Princess smiled then, for she had a thought: “For starters, the stuff that you’re buying: please stop! And then toward that pile we could start thinking: sort paper from plastic, metal and glass and send each away to be recycled fast.”
The King shook his head, “If you’re talking recycling,” I thought of that too, but freight costs a bundle, and sorting, my Sweetie, is far too much work. A Princess like you would be covered in dirt.”
“It’s a lovely thought Princess,” said the Queen from her throne, “And you know we both hate to leave you alone but there’s so much to pay for. There’s so much to buy: internet, TV sets, new games and cell phone. You want all these things. Aren’t they so nice to own?”
There was a moment and that moment was now: Princess felt heavy and didn’t know how to hope for a future much better on the range. What if her parents were too old to change?
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About the Book
Princess must choose between a lifestyle of luxury (boring!) and cleaning up a mountainous mess. The only question is: will her parents let her have her way? This ecological fairy tale involves an unplanned pony ride up steep and stinky Trash Mountain, and the simple steps back to an entirely different future.
Set on a vast and beautiful prairie, the story follows royal farming folk (the Hays) on their journey as they take neighborly advice and transition from “living off the land” to living a life of consumerism. Seeking “to live like the rest,” King and Queen Hay learn some difficult lessons. Lucky for them, their princess has eyes and ears, a nose, and a will of her own. Retracing their steps together, with the help of a wise old pony, they find their way home to a life with a future, one they can enjoy together.
Suitable for children of all ages, this story is about rural North Americans, and it leaves us questioning what we are doing to our own kingdoms and what legacy we will leave our children.
Following this fairy tale is a list of resources to current research on the effects of burning garbage and the alternatives—an indispensible tool in the practical teaching of environmental truths.
About the Author
Delila Jahn-Thue is an educator and a student of the environment. She resides on a farm in the rural area of Lake Alma, Saskatchewan, where she is the mother of three, a wife, a gardener, and a writer of a weekly newspaper column called "Living from the Farm."