Family of Earth

Great book for the family and classroom for earth day. Gorgeous pictures with wonderful writings. A must have book!

THE FAMILY OF EARTH has beautiful pictures of animals. My baby loves to read it and to look at the pictures of lions, zebras, giraffes, elephants, dolphins, leopards and chimpanzees. The text is simple and poetic, but may be a bit lengthy for the board book audience. With my little one (16 months old), I find that I need to shorten the text on a couple of pages. (The way the text is written makes this easy to do. I just stop after the first sentence in a spot or two where it runs long for his taste.) THE FAMILY OF EARTH has a political bent, and will likely be picked up by people with some liking for environmental messages. I would think this would be a safe gift book, though. The core message is that, "We all share the same earth." A fairly right-wing person I know read it and thought it "a bit odd," but was not offended. My baby loves THE FAMILY OF EARTH. He is clearly interested in learning names of exotic animals and in looking at Schimmel's gorgeous pictures. THE FAMILY OF EARTH is one that he picks up and wnats me to read to him over and over.

This makes a wonderful gift for any grade K-4 teacher, or as a school library donation in honor of your child's birthday. It has a powerful message that can reach the hearts of young and old, that we (and all living things) have more in common than most of us realize. Schim Schimmel does this in a very gentle and non-preachy way that appeals to all.

I loved this book the first time I read it and have read it out loud to zoo volunteers who have gotten weepy over the message. I buy this book for every expecting mom I know and always receive much thanks about it. I read each copy before I give it and always have a hard time reading the end without getting choked up. A very powerful book that I hope hooks youngsters on caring for the Earth at a very young age.

Brilliantly illustrated with 23 full-color paintings, artist and author Schim Schimmel's The Family Of Earth is an impressive and informative picturebook that captures both the eye and the imagination. From antarctic ice floes to the depths of the jungle, each illustration shows a different piece of the natural world and the cornucopia of creatures who live in it; yet all these different worlds are pieces of the same Earth. The simple text suited for very young readers blends perfectly with the vibrant art that instantly captivates one's attention. The Family Of Earth is enthusiastically recommended for family, school, and community library collections.