There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom

Product Information

Catherine Doyle on new book The Lost Tide Warriors, a children's adventure full of Irish myth and magic You won’t see our Christmas advert on TV this year, because it was banned. But we want to share Rang-tan’s story with you… 🎄 🐒 My Littles really enjoy chatting about and discussing how we can treat our planet 🌍 better so I was excited to be asked to review this one with them as I knew they’d be keen on it.

This poem has formed the basis of the Iceland Supermarket advert which was banned from being shown on the television due to its political message. It tells the story of Rang-tan, a young orangutan who finds herself homeless and hiding out in a little girl's bedroom. The primate explains how her habitat has been destroyed by the deforestation that comes with making some crude palm oil. There’s a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom is a beautiful book which highlights an important message to young children in an easy and accessible way. My children have asked to read this book repeatedly since it arrived I would recommend it for every young child. The story is told from the little girl’s point of view. Could you rewrite part of it in the third person. When a little girl discovers a mischievous orangutan on the loose in her bedroom, she can’t understand why it keeps shouting OOO! at her shampoo and her chocolate. But when Rang-tan explains that there are humans running wild in her rainforest, burning down trees so they can grow palm oil to put in products, the little girl knows what she has to do: help save the orangutans! Want to know more? Here are some key facts for children about orangutans and palm oil to help you and your family make a difference...

Explore our most popular collections

There are only about 110,000 orangutans left in the world, as their habitats are being destroyed to make palm oil There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroomis a powerful new picture book reminding us that we can all make a difference in the world. This book has been a brilliant catalyst for discussion with the Littles, particularly my five year old, who has today written a letter to “the boss of the chocolate factory” to ask them to use only responsibly sourced palm oil and not that which has come from destroying swathes of our rainforests. This book is full of charming illustrations and the central character is an adorable and very friendly looking orangutan who causes havoc in a little girl’s house. When a little girl discovers a mischievous orangutan in her bedroom, she can’t understand why it keeps shouting at her shampoo and her chocolate. But when Rang-tan explains that there are humans running wild in her rainforest, burning down trees so they can grow palm oil to put in products, the little girl knows what she has to do: help save the orangutans! Was Rang-tan banned?

The film ends with the young girl vowing to tell Rang-tan's story. An epilogue is dedicated to 'the 25 orangutans we lose every day'. She can't understand why it's so angry about her shampoo and chocolate - but then it explains that the palm oil used to make them is leading to deforestation... and destroying his home. Hachette Children’s Group would love for libraries to get involved this autumn, encouraging young children to think about the plight of the orangutan and the dangers of deforestation and how they can make a difference with this timely and beautiful picture book.

Name

Read the forward for this book by Emma Thompson. Could you write your own foreword for a different book? information about orangutans and palm oil plus exciting ideas about how young readers can make a difference. Robin Stevens, author of Murder Most Unladylike, on how her main character Daisy is coming out as gay Rang-tan is the story of a little girl and her orangutan friend forced from her forest home. Indonesian rainforests are destroyed to grow field upon field of dirty palm oil used to make the everyday products we use. It doesn’t need to be like this, big brands have a responsibility to make sure that the palm oil used in their products isn’t made at the greatest cost for our forests.

Written in collaboration with @greenpeaceuk , the theme of this book is (unsurprisingly) saving our planet and the author and illustrator have done an excellent job of conveying this message in the sadness of the orangutan when she tells the girl why she’s in her home. Actress Emma Thompson, brand ambassador for Greenpeace, has lent her voice to the environmental charity's latest work – an illustration of the loss of rainforest habitat in Indonesia at the hands of palm oil plantation owners. The positives and negatives of farming palm oil, including deforestation which is referred to in the poem.The children were exceptionally thoughful and were genuinely moved by both the poem and the advert. They certainly displayed their Secret of Succes 'To understand others'.