My Friend Earth

by Patricia MacLachlan (Author) Francesca Sanna (Illustrator)

My Friend Earth
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade
Celebrate Earth Day with this 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 spectacular book. Its enticing die-cut pages encourage exploration as its poetic text celebrates everything Earth does for us, all the while reminding us to be a good friend in return. - Interactive format and kid-friendly art will engage both toddlers and young readers.- A celebration of the natural world and rallying cry for positive action for Planet Earth- Great opportunities to share life science concepts and amazing facts about the environment with children This beautiful and innovative ode to our natural world will appeal to readers of Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth, The Poet's Dog, and Thank You, Earth. - Read aloud books for kids ages 3-5- Earth books for kids- Climate change books for kids 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. 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.
Select format:
Hardcover
$19.99

Publishers Weekly

Starred 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.)

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

Starred 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

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"Newbery-winning author MacLachlan uses lyrical text to detail the activities of her friend Earth over the course of a year. . . . Francesca Sanna's (The Journey, 2016) upbeat and fanciful art flow from page to page. [A] perfect Earth Day story hour selection."-Booklist
Patricia MacLachlan
Patricia MacLachlan (1938-2022) was the author of many well-loved novels and picture books, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal; its sequels, Skylark and Caleb's Story; Edward's Eyes; The True Gift; Waiting for the Magic; White Fur Flying; Fly Away; and Snow Horses. She lived in western Massachusetts.

Micha Archer illustrated The Wise Fool, Lola's Fandango, Prairie Days, and Snow Horses, and wrote and illustrated Daniel Finds a Poem. Working in collage and oil, her use of color and pattern is influenced by the folk art, crafts, and architecture of the countries she has visited and lived in. She realized the importance of the book as a teaching tool after teaching kindergarten and raising two children. Micha divides her time between Costa Rica and western Massachusetts, where she lives in the house she and her husband built, surrounded by gardens and forest to roam in.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780811879101
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Chronicle Books
Publication date
February 25, 2020
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV009100 - Juvenile Fiction | Concepts | Seasons
JUV029010 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | Environment
Library of Congress categories
Toy and movable books
Picture books
Seasons
Earth Day
Earth (Planet)

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