Milk and Juice: A Recycling Romance: A Hilarious Picture Book About Love and Sustainability for Children

by Meredith Crandall Brown

A debut picture book that follows a bottle of juice and a jug of milk on their recycling love story.

Once upon a time, in a refrigerator not too far away, a jug of milk and a bottle of juice fell in love. All was bliss until Juice was taken away from its one true love and . . . recycled.

Thus begins Milk and Juice's journey through many incarnations around the world. Will they ever be reunited? Or will they stay star-crossed lovers for all eternity?

Also includes informative back matter that explains the steps of recycling.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Romance, Love, Fiction, Friendship

32 pages, Hardcover

Published December 21, 2021

About the author

Meredith Crandall Brown has lived all over the world. Her favorite place to be is alongside her true love and her two boys, laughing, drawing, and writing stories. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is adorable and clever. I kind of get the feeling this is one of those books that adults will enjoy more than children. I'm not sure if the "romance" aspect will resonate for kids, and I also think parts might be a little intense for some sensitive youngsters -- I'm not sure how I feel about the recycling center being portrayed as a scary place. It works within the context of the story because the character (juice bottle) is afraid of what is happening to him when he is taken from his cozy kitchen and his true love, the milk jug. Here is a direct quote: "No! Not the darkness! Stand back, cruel hand of fate. For I am JUICE and I WANT MY MILK!" There is a happy ending, and I had to smile at the part in the afterward showing how plastic can turn into something else (my boys had several of those toy trucks/boats/planes made from recycled plastic jugs!) I personally really enjoyed it but parents can decide whether their children will feel inspired and encouraged to recycle more after they read this book, or whether the child might worry that their juice bottle is going to suffer through many rounds of angsty incarnations when they put it in the recycle bin.

[Whitney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Milk and Juice meet in a refrigerator and fall in love. Unfortunately, they are torn apart when Juice is emptied and recycled. We then see juice recycled into a water bottle and then recycled again into many, many different plastic items. All the while, Juice is seeking their lost love, Milk. We soon discover that Milk has been recycled as well, and eventually they are both recycled into a bench in a lovely grassy clearing. It's very cute! But sadly, the recycling process shown here is incredibly inaccurate. Maybe I'm being overscrupulous, but you can't recycle the same plastic over and over again! The quality of the material degrades to the point that it CAN'T be recycled again.

We need realistic expectations about how long plastic actually exists in the world.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew it! I knew there was some cadoodling going on in the dark after the fridge door swings shut.

“My Milk, you look stunning without your cap!”

Milk and Juice: A Recycling Romance is a cute, fun read full of heart and hope. It says never give up on love. You’ll find it again and again in so many different forms on the page and in the world.

The succinct “It Will Happen Like This” layout at the end is an added bonus. It puts the recycling process on display in easy to understand steps, words, and pictures.

A sweet read with recycling and romance galore!

Check this one out at your local Library.

Why the 3 stars?

It took milk and juice awhile to find each other again. It made me sad. BUT persistence paid off in the end!

[Lexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iconic. Romance for the ages.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute story with adorable illustrations that doubles as information on how plastic gets recycled into other uses. A gallon milk jug and a juice jug fall in love, but are separated when the juice container is tossed into the recycling bin. The book follows the two containers through their reincarnations into various shapes, until they are reunited in the end. The book also shows the process by which plastic is repurposed into a new use. This is a fun way to show children what happens to the plastics in their recycling bins.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."
--Wuthering Heights Milk and Juice

While this is a story about recycling, the material feels anything but recycled. The love between milk and juice is so powerful that it literally transcends life and death.

This is what Meredith Crandall Brown has taught me: The Universe is chaotic and uncaring. The only love there is to be had in the world is from other living beings on this earth. And if you truly love someone, like Milk and Juice love one another, you are bound to them for all eternity, in one form or another.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

It sure would be great if plastic could be recycled over and over. Also, of course, that everyone would sort and recycle. But don't waste water worrying about getting it too clean! Fresh clean water is an even more precious resource!

Still, the romance is silly fun, and there is a bit of reuse (not just recycle) at the end with the truck driver. I recommend it to go with a unit that includes up-to-date books about recycling, maybe an interview with or guest appearance of your city sanitation manager, and books about other ways to reduce waste like buying less single use plastic in the first place, upcycling, etc.

[O.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was interesting, my only issue is with the language page. 3 of them did not translate well. Cute though over all.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird, but I get it. And I LOVE the diagrammatic breakdown of the plastic recycling process in the back.

[Payton Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A romance for the ages!

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful.

[BreeAnn (She Just Loves Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite recent romance books - Alright, stick with me here. This children's book was absolutely adorable. Mixing a beautiful love between two cold drinks and an educational story of how items are recycled, this was a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ read for me!

When Milk and Juice are separated, they each go through recycling processes and travel all over the world looking for each other. We get to see how they are made into new types of products, but always hoping to find one another again. Don't worry...there's a HEA so don't sweat it! 😉

The illustrations are wonderful. There's bright colors and great details that bring the story to life. At the end of the book, we meet two new characters that go through a short step-by-step of how a product is recycled. It's a great book, and it's one my kiddos both love!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Milk & Juice are containers in love, in this recycling adventure of the heartwrenching disappearance of "Milk" from the refrigerator that they happily shared together. It turns out that separate adventures occur for the two lovelorn containers. Milk in a variety of container shapes due to his trips to various recycling centers, searches for Juice in 23 countries. The doublespread of Milk calling for Juice in 23 different languages, accompanied by a tiny whimsical illustration representative of each country, invites further interest in worldwide recycling. Two separate unexpected endings for Milk and Juice's adventures give youngsters much to ponder. This was a real hit for my young audience, who will enjoy imaginative recyling activities on Meredith Crandall Brown's webpage. What a memorable and entertaining way to learn about recycling!

[Amy Oberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sourcing picture books related to conservation and to feature for Earth Day activities is an ongoing challenge. I picked up “Mile and Juice: A Recycling Romance” because it was part of a display showcasing new titles at my public library. It’s cover and title are endearing, and I had high hopes for the book. To my disappointment, however, the story was lacking—kind of like recycled paper that can have a brownish, unfinished appearance. While the story’s premise is creative, it’s execution fell short. It is not in the same league as Henry Cole’s “One Little Bag: An Amazing Journey,” although both are grounded in the same goal of encouraging conservation.

Publication Date: 2021
Format: Picture book
Elements: Hyperbole, dialogue
Connection/Topics: Friendship, conservation (reduce, reuse, recycle)

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Milk and Juice fall in love and are blissfully happy until one day Juice is taken away to a recycling plant and turns up elsewhere as a bottle of soap. This cycle continues as Juice is regularly recycled into other plastic objects, all the while looking for their beloved Milk. While this is happening, Milk is also looking for Juice and has also been going through the recycling plants. Eventually they find that they are recycled into a park bench together and are able to spend the rest of their time together.

Cute story that, unfortunately, ignores the reality that most of the plastic that Americans put into the recycle bins are still ending up in the landfill as the need for recycled plastics diminishes.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Milk and Juice meet, it is love at first sight, and they spend many happy days in the refrigerator together. However, when Juice is taken away to be recycled, their love faces an obstacle, but will not be destroyed. Through their many new forms and constant recycling, Milk and Juice are determined to be reunited, and will not stop searching for one another.

This humorous picturebook will make readers root for the unlikely couple despite the fact that they are plastic containers. Brown’s simple illustrations convey the love and despair that come with true love while also teaching readers about all the different items that can be made from recycled plastic.

[karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this, but it fell short for me. It made the recycling center seem like a scary place to send your beloved cartons (until the endnotes, and I'm guessing those get skipped pretty often). I realize this is a little contradictory to my last point, but it also made it seem like our plastic gets endlessly recycled, which is not the case. I would have appreciated an element of reuse in there. This book seemed like a great opening for kids to understand plastic use, but it missed a few important targets.

[Christie Kaaland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humor is always popular with young readers and this title is no exception. Milk and Juice fall in love until one day juice is taken away to a recycling center. When juice is recycled, it becomes a detergent bottle. Juice kept changing/recycling into other bottles. Eventually Juice finds itself in a dark basement as detergent. Meanwhile milk looks everywhere for his beloved juice who has had a long recycling path around the world. Finally, milk and juice are reunited as a bench.

[Cathy Ogren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juice and Milk fall in love while in the refrigerator. But when Juice is empty, Juice ends up at the recycling center and is devastated. Juice keeps getting recycled into different bottles all while looking for Milk. True love is gone and Juice is in despair. After being recycled for a final time, who does Juice find? Milk! Juice and Milk are as close as ever. They have been recycled into a park bench – never to be parted again. A fun book about recycling with back matter to go along with it.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Milk and Juice fall in love in the fridge - but then they are separated when they are recycled! Will they ever meet again? In what form? In what capacity? What are the skandha implications of their reunion...wait...that might be a little too involved! However this may be a good way to try to encourage young children to recycle: they can help M&J get back together and be happy again! Nice first book on recycling!

[SaraKat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute story with some cute illustrations. I was rather amazed at how many times a plastic bottle was shown to be recycled, though. I'm afraid the romance storyline and scariness might be off-putting to little readers. The whole recycling thing wasn't handled very well or truthfully at all. This book might give kids a bit of a wrong idea about how effective recycling is and how it works. But the end does have a more realistic diagram that is more informative.

[Z W · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book straddles two worlds, the slapstick hilarious and the existential deep. Kids will love following the characters as they transform on their way to (spoiler alert) their eventual reunification. The layered jokes, story and non-fiction elements combine for a book that you'll want to read with your kids over and over again.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this story! I thought Juice was very dramatic and Milk was sweet and dependable. While I realize this was not the point of the story, how recycling was depicted here reminded me of reincarnation, except Milk and Juice retain their memories of their past lives as a milk jug and a juice bottle.

[Carol Farrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this story. It introduces children to recycling and many different options a juice or milk bottle can become as they move their recycle incarnations. It is also a sweet story of persevering and not forgetting old friends. I'm definitely using this during story time and letting the kids use their imaginations to see how they transform plastic containers.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Milk and Juice fall in love in someone's fridge but when they're empty they get recycled. Through each reincarnation milk and juice search for each other until they both end up recycled into the same bench. An end note explains the recycling process but kids will just love the idea of two inanimate objects searching for each other.

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

As others have stated this is a cute and enjoyable romance, but the recycling errors/inaccuracies made this book difficult for this adult to enjoy. My remedy would be that adult readers explain the actual recycling processes and help kids be more aware of the limitations of recycling the different plastics.

[Karen Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever, and it shows many iterations of recycled plastic. Theme - enduring, faithful love (and of course, the importance of recycling). Some of it was humorous. I especially liked the page with all the languages in the search. And, there is a happy ending :)
Bonus is a good, easy step-by-step of how plastic gets recycled at the end.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bottle of juice and a gallon of milk fall in love only to be tragically separated through several incarnations of recycled product packaging

While this picture book does a good job portraying recycling as a normal everyday activity, it also creates a false impression about how much plastic actually gets recycled. According to the OECD, only 9% of plastic is recycled worldwide, and some scientists put that number at only 5 to 6%. It’s a cute story but heavily greenwashed.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Milk and Juice are best friends. But when Juice is put into the recycling bin, he is separated from Milk. Juice and Milk both got recycled while they were looking for each other until finally coming back together as a recycled bench.

This book is funny and it was a good way to learn about recycling. I also liked the illustrations.

[Joanne Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't think I would like this book at all, but the creator did a good job. It is a completely silly story which tries to convey the recycling cycle. The language and even the sentiments are very grown up. I think read aloud by a very dramatic adult, the target readers might enjoy it. I particularly liked the variety of illustrations and layouts.