Spring is coming and with it the season for honoring the
Earth and paying special attention to what it takes to protect our home world
from the ravages of habitat destruction, and damage from fishing, farming,
construction and industry. Without its health we all sicken. May we celebrate
the beauty of this blue world we share with other living beings and do all we
can to keep it healthy.
Thank You, Earth: A
Love Letter to Our Planet
by April Pulley Sayre
Stunning
photographs paired with compact rhyming text make this nonfiction volume a
feast to read and examine. Exquisite photos set the rhythm for this letter of
thanks, giving the reader space to inspect the features in each picture. The
unhurried pace also gives listeners time to ponder the words and their
connections to the images.
Three
opening snapshots accompany the words, “Dear Earth,” which can be a greeting as
a letter begins. They can also be an observation of how precious and valued
this amazing blue planet is to we who are among its many inhabitants. Throughout
the book are spacious photos and generous language; a graceful sharing of the
graciousness of this globe we call our home. Images and imagery harmonize in a
myriad of thanksgiving instants, captured in measured moments.
As we are
learning, to our dismay, that many children in our world are nature deprived,
this lovely book offers an opportunity to share the awe of the wildness still
in existence with the children who desperately need this contact. Not only does
it invite us to find our own wonders of the universe, the Note from the Author
at the end supplies actions we can take, discoveries to investigate, places to
share and participate, the encouragement to invent and design, and assist
others, and places, resources and organizations where we can join explorations
that are already in process.
Greenwillow, $17.99
Interest Level:
Pre-Kindergarten – Grade 4
Many: The Diversity
of Life on Earth
by Nicola Davies
illustrated by Emily Sutton
Beginning
with one living thing and adding until there are two, three, then many, this
cautionary picture book introduces readers to the variety of life on our lovely
planet. Contrasting large and small, the red-headed little girl takes notes as
she visits the desert, the islands, and volcanic lakes, among many. She’s even
wearing binoculars, traveling in a hot-air balloon to view the treetops, and
wearing scuba gear for an ocean dive.
The
watercolor paintings are colorful and detailed, inviting listeners and readers
to examine closer. Several pages include identification of the creatures
represented.
All living
things “are part of a big, beautiful, complicated pattern.” But we humans “are
destroying pieces of the pattern. . .. causing animals and plants to
disappear.” By turns serious, and hopeful, even joyful at times, this appealing
book is a call to pay attention to the interconnectedness of all life.
Candlewick Press,
$15.99
Interest Level:
Pre-Kindergarten – Grade 2
Gecko
by Raymond
Huber
illustrated by Brian Lovelock
This
thoughtful nonfiction picturebook is an engaging narrative partnered with vivid,
bright-hued illustrations that bring to life the featured orange-spotted blue
tokay gecko.
The gecko
in this book is on “high alert” for “dangers in the daylight.” Many predators
would love a gecko meal. But this gecko cleans itself, and can shed and then
eat its skin, “a snack off his own back,” which leaves no trace behind. Geckos can
also camouflage by changing color, can wait patiently to capture lunch, and can
scare off intruders or warn of danger by using its voice.
The double page spreads pair story
language and information text in two different fonts, to engage both younger
listeners and older readers. The lush illustrations are done in acrylic ink,
watercolor and colored pencils and feature a fast-moving lizard who is a smart
escape artist.
Back matter includes: More About
Geckos, and an Index.
Candlewick Press,
$16.99
Interest Level:
Kindergarten – Grade 4
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