Thank You, Earth: A Love Letter to Our Planet: A Springtime Book For Kids

by April Pulley Sayre, April Pulley Sayre (Illustrator)

Overview

Winner of the Green Prize for Sustainable Literature

“A splendid marriage of poetry and photography.” —School Library Journal (starred review)

Acclaimed children’s book author and photographer April Pulley Sayre’s love letter to Earth is a stunning exploration of the beauty and complexity of the world around us. Remarkable photographs and a rich, layered text introduce concepts of science, nature, geography, biology, poetry, and community, perfect for classrooms and homeschooling. This nonfiction picture book is ideal for Earth Day and for celebrating the planet all year long.

April Pulley Sayre, award-winning photographer and acclaimed author of more than sixty-five books, introduces concepts of science, nature, and language arts through stunning photographs and a poetic text structured as a simple thank-you note.

Touching on subjects from life cycles to weather, colors, shapes, and patterns, this is an ideal resource for science and language art curriculums and a terrific book for bedtime sharing. Thank You, Earth is a great choice for Earth Day celebrations, as well as family and group read-alouds.

Includes backmatter with kid-friendly ideas for conservation projects information about the photographs, and additional resources.

Winner of the Green Prize for Sustainable Literature and a Green Earth Book Award Long List title!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062697370
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/16/2021
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	221,165
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

April Pulley Sayre is the award-winning creator of numerous books for children, including the acclaimed Raindrops Roll, Best in Snow, and Full of Fall. She has traveled to many places to observe, investigate, and photograph the world. The stunning photographs in Cityscape illuminate basic concepts of art, science, design, engineering, math, construction, and language arts for budding engineers, artists, architects, construction workers, and poets alike! April Pulley Sayre lives in South Bend, Indiana. You can visit her online at www.aprilsayre.com.

Jacket photography © 2018 by April Pulley Sayre

April Pulley Sayre is the award-winning creator of numerous books for children, including the acclaimed Raindrops Roll, Best in Snow, and Full of Fall. She has traveled to many places to observe, investigate, and photograph the world. The stunning photographs in Cityscape illuminate basic concepts of art, science, design, engineering, math, construction, and language arts for budding engineers, artists, architects, construction workers, and poets alike! April Pulley Sayre lives in South Bend, Indiana. You can visit her online at www.aprilsayre.com.

Jacket photography © 2018 by April Pulley Sayre

Editorial Reviews

Colorful photographs and large, bold text fulfill the title’s promise. The photographs are top-notch...Little ones will enjoy the verses and photographs at face value, while elementary school-aged students may well read the simple—although far from simplistic—verses right through to the weightier prose at the end.” — Kirkus Reviews

“The carefully crafted verse, with its rhymes and repeated sounds, should be a pleasure to read aloud—Sayre’s skillful use of enjambment is notable, too. ...A splendid marriage of poetry and photography.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

“[Sayre] uses vivid, full-color photos paired with simple lines that poetically and artistically tie to the images...The photographs truly make the book pop, and Sayre’s adoration for her subject shines through. This would be a great addition to an ecologically themed storytime.” — Booklist

“Sayre offers a powerful expression of gratitude for all that planet Earth has to offer. Vivid nature photography accompanies the prayerlike text.” — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

[Sayre] uses vivid, full-color photos paired with simple lines that poetically and artistically tie to the images...The photographs truly make the book pop, and Sayre’s adoration for her subject shines through. This would be a great addition to an ecologically themed storytime.

Booklist

[Sayre] uses vivid, full-color photos paired with simple lines that poetically and artistically tie to the images...The photographs truly make the book pop, and Sayre’s adoration for her subject shines through. This would be a great addition to an ecologically themed storytime.

Booklist

03/19/2018
Sayre offers a powerful expression of gratitude for all that planet Earth has to offer. Vivid nature photography accompanies the prayerlike text: “Thank you for leaves and stems and buds, for plant parts we can eat. Thank you for sounds and storms, and seasons.” Sayre’s photographs vary in their compositions, sometimes with a single image taking up a spread and sometimes two or more images featured side by side. “Thank you for those that crawl,” Sayre writes of a creature that resembles a land crab. “Yes, all. All. All. Even those that sting,” she continues, in reference to a photograph of bees pollinating a flower. “Thank you for beginnings, for endings, for lifetimes. Thank you for being our home,” Sayre concludes, with a spread showing a squirrel, pink flowers, and tide pools at dusk. In appended materials, she provides suggestions of ways readers can show their own thanks to the planet. Ages 4–8. Agent: Emily Mitchell, Wernick & Pratt Agency. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

2017-10-30
Colorful photographs and large, bold text fulfill the title's promise.The photographs are top-notch depictions of flora, fauna, landscapes, and seascapes, laid out carefully with the sparse text. The first double-page spread, which has three very different but equally stunning photographs, says simply: "Dear Earth," with the following spread devoted to thanks for "water and those that float, / for slippery seaweed / and stone." The next double-page spread changes venue and topics, and it ends with a rhyme to the previous verse. The rhythm and gentle rhymes of the text are soothing rather than urgent, allowing children plenty of time to stop and gaze at the details in the photographs, sometimes necessary in order to better understand the text. For example, there are some thanks for abstractions, and the photograph accompanying thanks "for struggles" shows a squirrel. Is it struggling to hang on to the slender twig it clutches or to grasp the twig in order to take a nibble? (Teachable moment: thanks for struggles?!) Little ones will enjoy the verses and photographs at face value, while elementary school-aged students may well read the simple—although far from simplistic—verses right through to the weightier prose at the end. Here the author lays out a good case for youngsters to become environmental activists and offers them some starting tools.Strong planetary appreciation in art and text, for read-aloud or independent reading. (select resources and organizations) (Picture book. 3-9)

Kirkus Reviews