Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In a vibrant picture book that begins with the big bang, Newhouse and Cosgrove present deep time as offering a strengthening sense of oneness with the universe. Omniscient narration proceeds chronologically, yoking a child's individual development to a broader narrative of evolutionary milestones ("Long before you grew cell by cell.../ continents formed"). Additional lines offer further links, for example connecting the youth's first steps with the arrival of amphibians on land. Digital renderings that resemble chalky rubbings comfortably mingle prehistoric scenes and contemporary renderings of a child and caretaker. After an asteroid presents a chance for life's renewal, narration barrels forward toward the present, connectively twining "the story of everything" with "the story of you." Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Includes a contextualizing note and timeline. Ages 4--8. (May)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2--Starting off with a big bang--more precisely, the Big Bang--this history of the universe sails, with appropriate sound effects, past the arrivals of stars and planets, the appearance (ROAR!!) of dinosaurs and their disappearance (BOOM!) in the wake of a falling asteroid, the rise of primates (just as noisy), the onset of humans, and all the way to that special day when, "you came to be." Presented in a vertical format until the closing summation, and resembling collage sprays of irregularly cut-paper scraps, Cosgrove's digital illustrations go from bursts of stars to roiling tumults of changing lifeforms and landforms that give way in due course to a more settled, serene close. Though this is written as nonfiction, the couple's eponymous baby (with brown skin like the parents) at the end is represented as a spray of fairy wings not unlike those on the backs of the prehistoric people in an earlier scene; in an afterword, Newhouse claims that scientists who study fossils are called "geologists." The book may work better as a general read, being dedicated more to tone and energy than factual accuracy. VERDICT Not suitable for a science lesson, but the visual and sonic energy, plus the unusual format, may provide enough oomph for infant and preschool story hours.--John Peters
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Inspired by Debra Frasier'sOn the Day You Were Born (1991), a tale that intertwines facts about Earth's origins with the trajectory of childhood development. As a Brown caregiver hikes and camps with a child sporting toy wings (whose white hair and pale skin suggest albinism), Newhouse's text relies on a "before you were born" trope, previously popularized by Frasier, to gallop through billions of years of earth science. "Long before you grew cell by cell… / continents formed, / sulfur steamed, / bacteria multiplied, / life evolved on Earth." The narrative aligns the child's developmental markers with our planet's evolutionary patterns. "Long before you took your first steps… / amphibians crawled and hopped to land." After establishing the existence of bees, mammals, and dinosaurs, Newhouse introduces the giant asteroid whose impact ("BOOM!") renders the dinosaurs extinct. Life renews, primates clamber in trees, and brown-skinned early humans start to "build, create, and play." Cosgrove's digital illustrations effectively use scraggly crayon textures against backdrops of deep-space black and the blue and mauve of earthly skies. Keyed to the child's hair, chalk-white drawings depict evolving animal species and human achievements like ships and cities. The evolutionary narrative underpins a loving contemporary family; in one spread, a blissful pregnant couple awaits the birth of the youngster at the story's center. Below a night sky whose starry constellation resembles the child's face, the caregiver tucks the little one in. Little readers will come away assured of their place in the world. Both tenderly human and macrocosmic. (author's note, timeline, bibliography)(Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
