Children's Book – The Wild West of Waste

Created by Let’s Go Compost founder Lauren Click and illustrator Nikki Swiderski, The Wild West of Waste is an award-winning children's composting book that makes environmental education fun, engaging, and easy to understand. Every purchase supports Let’s Go Compost, a national nonprofit dedicated to expanding compost education, food waste prevention, and hands-on soil science programs in schools, libraries, and communities across the United States.
 
About the Book
Welcome to Compost Creek, where one small worm is about to prove that even the tiniest heroes can make a big difference.
Meet Wiletta the Worm, a lasso-swinging, ten-gallon-hat-wearing composting champion determined to tackle one of the world's biggest environmental challenges: food waste. Alongside her loyal sidekick, Bucky the Beetle, Wiletta discovers the magic of vermicomposting, transforming leftover food scraps into nutrient-rich compost that helps gardens, plants, and ecosystems thrive.
 
Filled with playful rhymes, colorful illustrations, and a charming Wild West adventure, The Wild West of Waste introduces young readers to composting, recycling nutrients, healthy soil, and environmental stewardship in a way that's both entertaining and educational. Children learn how food scraps become valuable compost, why reducing food waste matters, and how everyone can help care for the planet through simple everyday actions.
Designed for children ages 0–7, this engaging picture book is ideal for:
Families teaching sustainability at home
Classrooms exploring composting, gardening, and environmental science
Public and school libraries
Nature centers, gardens, and museums
Earth Day, STEM, and environmental education programs
Read-aloud story times and early childhood learning
 
Whether you're introducing composting for the first time or reinforcing lessons about food waste reduction and caring for the environment, The Wild West of Waste helps children build lifelong habits through storytelling, imagination, and hands-on learning.
 
Perfect for educators, parents, librarians, homeschool families, and community organizations, this children's environmental education book inspires curiosity, responsibility, and a love for nature while showing that every small action can create lasting change. Because sometimes the smallest creatures make the biggest impact.
 
Book Details
Title: The Wild West of Waste
Author: Lauren Click
Illustrator: Nikki Swiderski
Publisher: Let's Go Compost
ISBN-13: 9798218810504
Publication Date: September 27, 2025
Format: Hardcover Picture Book
Length: 36 Pages
Dimensions: 8.5 × 8.5 × 0.25 inches
Recommended Age: 0–7 years
 
 
Sustainably Printed
The Wild West of Waste is printed in the United States. Paper used for The Wild West of Waste is sourced from mills in Tennessee and Pennsylvania that follow responsible forestry standards, including protections against harvesting endangered or high-conservation-value forests.