Review by Booklist Review
The title of this book is exactly as advertised. Beginning with Dear Earth, the subsequent pages, each containing only a few words, express appreciation for nature. Sayre, pulling double duty as both author and photographer, uses vivid, full-color photos paired with simple lines that poetically and artistically tie to the images, ranging from a close-up view of a ladybug to a high-contrast desert sunset. Most of the photographed objects will be familiar to children, but a few concepts (for instance, all shapes that repeat next to a sunflower, thank you for rays and radials next to a coneflower and dandelion) may require a bit of an explanation. 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, or for one-on-one sharing to pore over the gorgeous photos. Back-page material includes an author's note and guidelines for readers to turn a thank you into action, truly the key message of the book. Thank you, Earth, indeed.--Linsenmeyer, Erin Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4-Photographs of the natural world accompany a poem that gives thanks to the earth. The author/photographer of Raindrops Roll, Best in Snow, and Full of Fall has penned a lyrical thank you note to Earth illustrated with her signature photography. Close-ups featuring alluring shapes, patterns, and textures; seascapes and mountains; animals in action; and striking skies are varied and beautifully reproduced and arranged, with the text of the poem set directly on the pictures in large, legible print. "Dear earth," she begins. "Thank you for water and those that float,/for slippery seaweed/and stone. Thank you for mountains and minerals,/that strengthen bills/and bone." 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 long author's note suggests ways that young people can say thank-you to the earth themselves that go beyond the usual. A list of selected resources and organizations and a welcome explanation (subject and location) of every photograph complete this attractive package. VERDICT A splendid marriage of poetry and photography, consider for all nature-related collections.--Kathleen Isaacs, -Children's -Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MD © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Stunning photographs accompany the poetic but precise text in this picture book encouraging gratitude for our beautiful and intricate planet and everything thereon--from tiny ladybugs to towering trees. Sayre also highlights "all shapes that repeat" and "rays and radials," which may send readers out to look for patterns and shapes in nature. Back matter explores eco-issues and encourages kids to get involved. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
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 simplealthough far from simplisticverses 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) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
