Review by Booklist Review
Yuly reminds readers of the importance of appreciating the natural world. Using spare text and simply styled illustrations, she enumerates seven environmental items, explains the reasons for their importance, and offers direct expression of thanks. Sun gives us light, declares a boy at a window looking outside at the sun. The following spread, Thank you, sun, depicts the large orb from outside the house. Later pages note that bees give us honey, sheep wool, clouds rain, trees wood, dirt plants, and the earth our home. The collage artwork (created with ink, tissue paper, fabric, wood, and digital effects) emphasizes classic primary and secondary colors, set against mostly white backgrounds. Objects are kept minimalist (the sun's rays, for example, are depicted as narrow pie-shaped wedges), and observers will enjoy following the boy and an unmentioned red bird as they go about their daily activities. Brief enough to hold even a toddler's attention, this will suit story hours ranging from Thanksgiving to Earth Day.--Weisman, Kay Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-A child offers thanks to the sun for giving light, to bees for honey, to sheep for wool, to clouds for rain, and, ultimately, to the planet: "Earth gives us our home. Thank you, Earth." Short sentences with the refrain "thank you" accompany Yuly's equally minimalist mixed-media illustrations. Despite the simplicity of text and artwork, this book delivers a powerful message about appreciating the environment and its gifts and the interconnectedness of the ecosystems. VERDICT Pair with Todd Parr's The Earth Book or Britta Teckentrup's Bee: A Peek-Through Picture Book for a nature-themed storytime.-Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY © Copyright 2017. 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
Sun gives us light. / Thank you, sun." This appreciation is repeated as a child observes and enjoys bees, sheep, clouds, trees, dirt, and Earth. Yuly's colorful collage illustrations set against white backgrounds are reminiscent of Eric Carle's. The simple text and pictures will appeal to preschoolers, and the message of gratitude for nature is appropriate for many storytime themes. (c) Copyright 2018. 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
Nature's gifts are recognized and celebrated in this minimalist picture book that links gratitude with life itself."Sun gives us light. / Thank you, sun. / Bees give us honey. / Thank you, bees." So begins the chain of connections between resource and product. Sheep give wool, clouds give rain, trees give wood, and dirt gives plants, all depicted with bold, figurative images created in digital collage with ink, tissue, fabric, paper, and wood and set on double-page spreads. Fuzzy, torn-paper edges combine with natural textures to reinforce the organic nature of these connections. Large black lettering alternates statements indicating the various gifts with simple thank-you's. A pale-skinned child guides readers through each concept, depicted eating honey, wearing a wool cap, happily standing in a rain shower, perched in a wooden treehouse and then planting a tree, and eating a carrot. Finally, the child is seen peacefully asleep in bed after thanking Earth. "Earth gives us our home. / Thank you, Earth." Appreciation is emblematic in this attractive and uncomplicated narrative that may also serve as a nondenominational bedtime prayer for the very young. (Picture book. 2-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
