Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years
by Stacy McAnulty
illustrated by David Litchfield
Date: 2017
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book non-fiction
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library
"Hi, I’m Earth! But you can call me Planet Awesome."
Prepare to learn all about Earth from the point-of-view of Earth herself! In this funny yet informative book, filled to the brim with kid-friendly facts, readers will discover key moments in Earth’s life, from her childhood more than four billion years ago all the way up to present day. Beloved children's book author Stacy McAnulty helps Earth tell her story, and award-winning illustrator David Litchfield brings the words to life. The book includes back matter with even more interesting tidbits.
(synopsis from Goodreads)
This is a really cute book! Unlike the interminable Hey There, Earth Dweller! that I just gave up on, Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years has a smaller scope and sticks to the basics. Told from the point of view of an anthropomorphized planet, the book covers the Earth's history in almost biographical fashion, with amusing illustrations to help make the various points. I like how Pluto's downgrade from planet status is handled, and the Earth's baby book is pretty funny.
There are a couple of pages at the end with a little more information about the Earth and its structure, location, and resident lifeforms (and extinctions). Since there isn't as much information in the main part of the book itself, these notes are nice to have.
Overall, this is a great non-fiction picture book for kids that tells the story of the place we all call home. It might be for a younger audience than some other books in this vein, but it appears to be well-researched and fairly accurate... which is definitely a plus.
Quotable moment:
Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 5/5
Overall: 4.33 out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment