DOES EARTH FEEL?

How do you suppose our world is feeling?

In this new picture book, the French author/illustrator asks readers to imagine how the Earth we share might be feeling. On each spread there’s a question that begins: “Does Earth feel...?” Opposite is an acrylic painting of a stylized scene, usually a landscape, reflecting the final word in the question. From “alive,” “calm,” “content,” the writer runs through various moods that gradually darken to “hurt,” “tired,” and “sick” before returning to the more optimistic “heard,” “protected,” and “loved.” Majewski’s concern for the environment comes through strongly in his expressive paintings, in which humans appear as tiny stick figures with dots of many colors for heads. His message is valuable. The concluding question, “What do you want Earth to feel?” is a clear invitation for group discussion and potential action. A final author’s note introduces the concept of empathy and the idea that “we are all Earth—dependent on one another for survival.” Unlike some similar titles for very young readers and listeners, this does not end with oversimplified suggestions for saving the environment. Instead, it introduces our current problems relatively subtly and suggests an attitudinal change. Pay attention and care! This would go well, perhaps, with Rafael López’s We’ve Got the Whole World in Our Hands (2018) in library storytimes and preschool and early elementary settings. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-24-inch double-page spreads viewed at 64.6% of actual size.)

Environmental awareness and emotional intelligence in a neat package.