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Format | Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Book | Searching... Main Library | E MacL | Searching... Unknown |
| Book | Searching... South Regional Library | E MacL | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Perfect for Earth Day --and every day! --this spectacular picture book is a valentine to our wonderful planet from the Newbery Award-winning author of Sarah, Plain and Tall .
Our friend Earth does so many wonderful things! She tends to animals large and small. She pours down summer rain and autumn leaves. She sprinkles whisper-white snow and protects the tiny seeds waiting for spring.
Readers of all ages will pore over the pages of this children's book that is bursting with color and texture. Its enticing pages feature clever cut-outs, flaps, and curved contours that encourage exploration as its poetic text celebrates everything Earth does for us, all the while reminding us to be a good friend in return.
TOUCH AND LEARN: An interactive format and kid-friendly art will engage young readers as they explore our unique home in the universe.
EVERYDAY IS EARTH DAY: This beautiful celebration of the natural world is also a timely rallying cry for positive action for saving Planet Earth.
CREATIVE APPROACH: Great opportunity to share life science concepts and amazing facts about the environment with children.
Perfect for: Earth books for kids from toddler to preschool and grade school Parents, grandparents, and caregivers seeking a new Earth Day book to share Teachers and librarians looking for climate change books for kids, stories for boys and girls who love space and the solar system, or books that explore the science and wonder of nature Fans of Here We Are by Oliver Jeffers, Hello, World! by Jill McDonald, Chris Ferrie's Baby University board books, and The Last Kids on Earth book series and Netflix show
Author Notes
Francesca Sanna grew up on the Italian island of Sardinia. She studied illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York and the Academy of Art and Design in Lucerne. Her book The Journey received five starred reviews and was lauded by the New York Times and the Guardian . Francesca currently lives in Zurich, but you can visit her at francescasanna.com.
Patricia MacLachlan is an acclaimed author who has written dozens of books--from picture books to novels--including the Newbery Medal winner Sarah, Plain and Tall , and the Barkus series also published by Chronicle Books. She lives in western Massachusetts.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2--Earth is personified as a girl of color, a giantess with black, wavy hair and dark eyes. An unseen narrator describes her actions throughout the cycle of the seasons, starting with spring. In the first as well as the final scene, Earth is observed sleeping under a blanket of snow. Die cuts, flaps, and curved page contours yield surprises, e.g., Earth's hair and the shoreline form an undulating line that appears to be part of a single page, but it actually interacts with the following one, creating an illusion. Black, white, and various shades of green, brown, gold, and coral comprise the palette. Flat colors provide rest from a plethora of patterns. MacLachlan's language is evocative, a gift to the ear: "She tends the prairie where sun-dappled wild horses run through grasses that swish against their legs…and the glistening ice where the young polar bear pads on mittened feet." Curving phrases and free verse formations add to the lyrical quality. Generally presented as a benevolent being, Earth is sometimes shown bringing too much water or wind, but she remedies the damage. There are no dire environmental predictions here, but rather an appreciation of various biomes and the creatures that abide therein. VERDICT A beautifully designed ode to the planet--perfect for celebrating Earth Day or anytime.--Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this tender picture book, an anthropomorphized Earth, portrayed as a cherubic brown-skinned giant with long hair, makes her way through the seasons. After waking from a wintertime snooze, "My friend Earth" carries out various duties: nurturing habitats ("She tends the prairie where sun-dappled wild horses run/ through grasses that swish against their legs," MacLachlan writes in lyrical lines) and assisting animals ("She guides the chimpanzee to her night rest"). Flaps and die-cut shapes create a dynamic reading experience; over one page turn, they show Earth moving from sleeping to waking to peering through a colorful bramble. Surreal illustrations by Sanna, rendered in pencil, ink, and digital painting, use saturated hues--sages, teals, and rusts--to show Earth as both cause and effect: she becomes and rides on the wind, rains on and then wrings out sopping trees, before finally "waiting" for another spring. A poetic entrée into Earth's modes rendered with an appreciation for natural details. Ages 3--5. (Feb.)
Booklist Review
Newbery-winning author MacLachlan uses lyrical text to detail the activities of her friend Earth over the course of a year. Earth hears spring sounds ("the caws of crows"); sees creatures tiny ("the spider spinning silver") and large; guides lost animals; tends prairies, tundras, and oceans; pours rain ("flowing down mountains through the fields to the rivers to the sea"); blows fierce autumnal winds; sprinkles snow; and cradles silent seeds awaiting spring. Francesca Sanna's (The Journey, 2016) pencil, ink, and digital paintings depict Earth as a young, brown-skinned girl with large eyes and flowing black hair. Her upbeat and fanciful art employs a palette of greens, browns, and oranges, and uses crisp-edged forms that flow from page to page. Even more intriguing are the interactive, artistic die cuts that include pasted partial pages (creating mini-page turns) and strategically cut holes and scalloped edges that expose multiple pages and blend elements of several spreads. With endpapers depicting colorful images from the book, this makes a perfect Earth Day story hour selection.