Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth

by Oliver Jeffers, Oliver Jeffers (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Insightful, sweet, funny, charming, the list of adjectives you could apply to any work by Oliver Jeffers is pretty extensive. Here, he distills life on earth into a single picture book to dazzling effect.

#1 New York Times Bestseller and #1 TIME Best Book of the Year for 2017!

The exquisite and thought-provoking new book from the multi award-winning, internationally best-selling picture book creator of Lost and Found, Oliver Jeffers.

Well, hello.
And welcome to this Planet.
We call it Earth.

Our world can be a bewildering place, especially if you’ve only just got here. Your head will be filled with questions, so let’s explore what makes our planet and how we live on it. From land and sky, to people and time, these notes can be your guide and start you on your journey. And you’ll figure lots of things out for yourself. Just remember to leave notes for everyone else… Some things about our planet are pretty complicated, but things can be simple, too: you’ve just got to be kind.

Here We Are is the utterly heartfelt new book from Oliver Jeffers. We’re glad you found it.

“An optimistic snapshot of contemporary life, this heartfelt hug of a book ought to become a classic” The Guardian

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780008266172
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/07/2023
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	9.45(w) x 11.02(h) x 0.12(d)
Age Range:	2 Years

About the Author

Oliver Jeffers graduated from The University of Ulster in 2001 with First Class honours. His outstanding talent has been recognised by several high-profile awards, including the Nestlé Children’s Book Prize Gold Award. ‘Lost and Found’ animation was broadcast on Channel 4. Oliver lives and works in Brookyln, New York.

Read an Excerpt

To come.

Table of Contents

To come.

Reading Group Guide

To come.

Interviews

To come.

Foreword

To come.

Editorial Reviews

To come.

Here We Are plumbs the depths of wonder…It is a tour through the land, the sea, the sky, our bodies: dioramas of our wild diversity…[Jeffers] is the master of capturing the joy in our differences. Readers might lose themselves in these pages, cataloging the magnificence of the blue man in the red fez, the tiny beekeeper, the green haired punk, the whirling dervish, the baboon's bare butt, the quiet queen, the hammerhead, the unquiet chorister, the earthworm.

The New York Times Book Review - Samantha Hunt

-"Moments of human intimacy jostle with scenes that inspire cosmic awe, and the broad diversity of Jeffers's candy-colored humans...underscores the twin messages that 'You're never alone on Earth'and that we're all in this together."—Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

-"A sweet and tender distillation of what every Earthling needs to know and might well spend a lifetime striving to achieve. A must-purchase for new parent shelves." —School Library Journal

-"From the skies to the animal kingdom to the people of the world and lots of other beautifully rendered examples of life on Earth, Here We Are carries a simple message: Be kind." —NPR

-"A true work of art."—Buzzfeed

-"A must-have book for parents."—Gambit

-"A celebration of people all shapes and sizes, and of the beauty and mystery of our Earth."—Booklist

-“Mr. Jeffers captures the love and the poignancy in what is styled as an introduction to a newcomer… Rich colors, witty pictures and a kind sensibility make this book, published late last year, a nice bedtime choice for readers ages 2-6.”—The Wall Street Journal

-"...a beautifully illustrated guide to living on Earth and being a good person." —Brightly

-"Something of a user's guide to being alive and to life on Earth, Jeffers brilliantly uses pen and paintbrush to explore profound and puzzling questions, establishing straight off that the wisdom imparted here is wisdom for us all."—Chicago Tribune

-[Here We Are] is a tour through the land, the sea, the sky, our bodies; dioramas of our wild diversity....[Jeffers] is the master of capturing the joy in our differences."—New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

2017-11-10
Addressing his infant son about what it means to live on Earth, the author/illustrator offers a mix of planetary facts, quotations, bits of advice, and illustrations.The dedication page to 2-month-old Harlan includes, from the author, "These are the things / I think you need to know," as well as a quote from J.M. Barrie about the importance of kindness. Jeffers' fans will not be disappointed by the scant, lilting text and the boldly colored, stylized depictions of people, animals, and scenery. Themes include the physical planet, caring for the body, diversity of people and animals, time well spent, and caring for the planet—with kindness as an overarching element. The tone is unsentimental and conversational and laced with Jeffers' trademark wryness: "We know a bit about the sea, but we'll talk some more about that once you've learned to swim." The facts disclosed are rudimentary, as is the vocabulary—but this entertains rather than bores, because readers are intermittently reminded that the book's audience is a baby. The double-page spread illustrating the "shapes, sizes and colors" of people is amazingly inclusive of ethnicities, abilities, and lifestyles (though the depiction of what seems to be an Arctic Native in furs speaks to the difficulty of balancing inclusion against stereotype in such an effort). Scattered throughout are funny, never snarky asides—as when a parrot corrects the assertion that animals don't talk and when part of the universe is labeled the "stratosthingy."Big ideas ably packed into little, bright packages. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews