As spring is fully under way, flowers and chirping birds and all, it’s hard not to breathe a pleasurable sigh at the gorgeous sights of a world reawakened — and, perhaps, to dab at a sniffly nose as the pollen production goes into overdrive.
Earth Day is this month, the 22nd, a holiday met with both celebration of a beautiful planet and concern over the threats facing it. These new books strike both of those notes — cheers and warnings — as they use lush illustrations to pay tribute to the ark of life we all share.
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“Love, The Earth” by Frances Stickley, illustrated by Tim Hopgood. (Ages 3-7. Candlewick Press. $17.99.)
This valentine from Earth to its inhabitants promises that the world is “all yours to share. The mountains and the Arctic air … the trees, the breeze, the polar bear, the forests, and the sea.”
The Earth promises to care for its living things — if its inhabitants can do the same. “Please share my food, my lakes, my land … and try to lend a helping hand.”
Gorgeous mixed-media art shows the beauty of growing things as well as the disorder of pollution, and encourages readers to take a stand for the planet, because “there’s only ONE of you, and only ONE of me.”
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“The Earth Book” by Hannah Alice. (Ages 7-10. Candlewick Press. $15.99.)
Circular see-through sections in this clever book explore Earth “from its place in space to deep under its surface.” From volcanoes and earthquakes to animal life to the water cycle to the planet’s core, the book examines what makes Earth special.
The book ends with information about climate change and suggestions for taking care of the planet by recycling and conserving energy.
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“Extinctopedia” by Serenella Quarello, illustrated by Alessio Alcini, translated by Margaret Greenan. (Ages 8-12. Red Comet Press. $22.99.)
This tribute to the vanished treasures of the planet — its extinct animals — and the race to save threatened creatures includes stunningly detailed drawings of the long-gone dodo and baiji (Chinese river dolphin), and such currently endangered beauties as the axolotl, the pangolin, and Madagascar’s aye-aye.
The book goes into depth about efforts to help the most endangered animals, why so many are threatened and why biodiversity matters. “Each and every animal is necessary for the health of the planet, and if we lose them, it will change the planet as we know it forever.”
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“The Last Zookeeper” by Aaron Becker. (Ages 5-9. Candlewick Press. $18.99.)
Aaron Becker — creator of gorgeous wordless stories about time, nature and adventure — opens his newest book with a quotation from Jane Goodall exhorting people to understand and care about the world and its creatures, because “only if we help, shall all be saved.”
This story follows the efforts of a lonely robot tending to an isolated zoo in a flooded world. As the waters rise, the hulking machine tenderly gathers the stranded pandas, giraffes, elephants and tigers, builds them a ship, and heads into an uncertain future.
It looks bleak, but as a rainbow spreads across the sky, new possibilities appear — and Becker’s gentle story of stewardship and care of the planet and its beautiful creatures finds a hopeful ending.
Caroline Luzzatto has taught preschool and fourth grade. Reach her at luzzatto.bookworms@gmail.com
