Just in Case: Saving Seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Far north of mainland Norway, on an Arctic island where polar bears roam and almost nothing grows, a vault dug deep into a frozen mountain holds more than 580 million seeds from around the world. Megan Clendenan explains why the Svalbard Global Seed Vault was built, how it was planned and constructed, and how seed banks send copies of their seeds there for safekeeping in case war, disaster or a changing climate destroys the originals. Short sidebars add facts along the way, and Brittany Cicchese's soft digital illustrations show the vault inside and out, along with gardens and farms around the world. Back matter suggests ways young readers can save seeds themselves. The book won the 2026 Orbis Pictus Award.