‘Green’ literary example

Uncool adults, some say, were at one point cool kids before taking on the responsibilities of parenthood and full-time employment. But despite his age, Costa Mesan Derek Sabori never lost his “street cred,” and the cache that he holds in the eyes of children has helped him engage his kids and others in learning about energy conservation.

The father of two, who spearheads Costa Mesa-based action sports apparel company Volcom’s sustainability initiatives, recently self-published an illustrated children’s book titled “Lu and the Earth Bug Crew,” where the protagonists are surfing, snowboarding bugs that fight waste and pollution.

Lately he’s been taking it around the area to local schools and bookstores for readings, driving his 1985 Mercedes wagon that he converted to run on vegetable oil.

“I’m the cool dad that can skate with my kids at the skate park,” Sabori said.

In the book, Lu, a confident blue bug modeled after Sabori’s son, leads his group of insectoid friends in an effort to turn off all of the electrical appliances in their house to defeat the villains known as the Energy Spikes.

There is no violence, no intrigue and no romance in the tale. It instead aims at familiarizing kids with everyday ways to save energy and teaching them some modern conservation vocabulary by using expressions like “renewable energy” and “biofuels.”

“We’ve always expected our kids to rise to our conversation level,” Sabori said of the multisyllabic jargon.

The author’s energy and cool demeanor help him keep young audiences engaged despite the big words and unusual plot.

Sabori came up with the idea for the book on walks with his kids. He would play games with them, pretending that they were on a mission to pick up pieces of trash they saw around the neighborhood.

The book’s effectiveness, in Sabori’s eyes, derives from associating an eco-friendly lifestyle with images of characters whose lifestyles kids would want to imitate. The characters go to universities, support nonprofits and attend art shows much like him.

“Lu is my son. I want him to be the leader and do the right thing all the time,” Sabori said.

The book is being sold at Martha’s Bookstore and Our Gang’s General Store on Balboa Island, Under my Umbrella, Bundles & Bumps, Surfside Sports and Borders Books in Costa Mesa and Sabori has taken it to several area schools to present to kids.

He will be reading his book every half hour at the Earth Day event at The Camp shopping center in Costa Mesa from noon to 4 p.m. April 19, and also doing a signing at Martha’s Bookstore at 11 a.m. on April 26.

Reporter ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].