Written By: Patricia MacLachlan
Illustrated by: Francesca Sanna
For Ages: 4-8 years
Language: English
Topics Covered: Nature, Mother Nature, BIPOC Protagonists, Pint-Sized Professor, Kindness, Social-Emotional Learning, Girls Outdoors.
Summary: This book is so breathtakingly beautiful it’s almost unfair to other books. I love the mischievous winks and grins that Mother Nature has as she cares for the flora and fauna across the land.
The whimsical color palette follows Earth as she tends to critters, reuniting a zebra family and checking on polar bears. The book has adorable paper flaps and windows, integrating colors and illustrations into multiple pages. Earth is the driving force behind rain and wind, and she might sometimes overdo it but she’ll always make things right again. My Friend Earth is just a really fun look at springtime, and how the land changes in between the seasons. Earth doesn’t take for granted the smallest sounds of spiders spinning, or the task of guarding ocean giants.
I really love the emphasis in the story that Earth is living, breathing, and reactive. She makes decisions, weather patterns, and also basks in the glory of the natural splendor that our natural world has to offer. There’s honestly so much beauty in this story, I don’t think words can do it justice. It’s light, simple, and fun stories like these that instill a love for nature in young readers. This is a book that makes you happy, and also yearn for a walk in the woods.
This book was kindly sent to us by Chronicle Kids Books, but all opinions are my own.
Patricia MacLachlan is the celebrated author of many timeless novels for young readers, including Newbery Medal winner Sarah, Plain and Tall; Word After Word After Word; Kindred Souls; The Truth of Me; The Poet’s Dog; and My Father’s Words. She is also the author of countless beloved picture books, a number of which she cowrote with her daughter, Emily. She lives in Williamsburg, Massachusetts.
Francesca is an illustrator and a children’s book author
She grew up in Italy and is currently based in Zurich, Switzerland, where Francesca works on several areas in publishing, children books and editorial illustration.