What a delightful feast for the eyes. I read this, read it again, then again. The sheer beauty of the writing and the exquisite illustrations lead me to return this to the library and then purchase a personal copy. While my new years resolution for 2024 is to cull my books and only keep those at the top of the list, this one certainly qualifies as a keeper.

Interestingly, the artist chose to use a cut out format to the illustrations so that one page lead to another to another and yet another.

Beginning with the winter awakening from a nap, the first cut out leading to page two focuses on the sounds of spring and the caw of crows. The earth contains spiders with beautiful webs, and large birds crossing the sea while there is a mole underground making a path. The earth guides the chimp to her night nest, while the zebra finds his mother from the other hundreds of black and white stripes mesh together, but are unique in their pattern.

As the other seasons progress, the winter returns as the reindeer living on the tundra graze for food while the ice glistens and the baby polar bears carefully navigate via their padded paws. As the Friend eart pours summer rains to fill the streams throughout the fields and downhill of the mountains, the water flows out to the sea. The earth blows hearty autumn winds the sweep the trees as the colored leaves float to the ground.

As the winter coats the earth once again with snow and ice, the mother animals find dens for their babies to be born and hibernate until once again the spring returns.

Stunningly beautiful this book is one to enjoy, like the seasons, changing again and again.

If she writes young adult Newbery books, or works with imaginative artists to create increibly beautifully illustrated books, this is a writer who deserves to be one of the best of the best and favorite to many.

FIVE STARS ( )

Description: Through beautiful illustrations, this book highlights the wonders of nature and inspires children to care for the Earth.
Age Group: 4-8 years

Okay so reading the same book in the same sitting as "If You Came to Earth," I found myself comparing these two books. What I do love about this one is the die cuts. I love cut out illustrations.

I was hoping for more considering this was written by the illustrious Patricia MacLachlan (the author of Sarah, Plain and Tall). Trust me, it is still VERY good. But I thought it would be different. However, I applaud the use of a person of color on the cover! ( )

This book offers a ton of learning for children and I think would be awesome to use in the classroom for lessons.

neat, unusual, cut pages!!
I love this book!! ( )