Review: Earth Friend Forever by Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez and Sanden Totten

 

EARTH FRIEND FOREVER

by Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez, and Sanden Totten

Illustrated by Mike Orodan

Little, Brown and Company

Picture Book

48 pages 

pages 4 to 8

The creators of Brains On!, the award-winning science podcast for kids, present a humorous, fact- and fun-filled look at the effects of plastic on Earth and how young readers can help protect their planet. Perfect for STEM enthusiasts!
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Hi Friend,
It’s me, Earth! I hope you like living on me, but we need to talk.
I need your help to solve a BIG problem…You’re covering me with plastic!
But don’t worry, I know you’ve got my back—after all, you do live on it.
Love, Your Earth Friend Forever

Told in the form of a letter from Earth to the reader, this humorous picture book takes an in-depth look at how the actions of humans, particularly their use of plastic, is impacting the planet and how they can make simple changes in their every day life to help protect the place they call home. Additional back matter includes a letter from the reader to Earth, information on what plastic is and how it's made, and scientific solutions that are currently in the works.

Turn your BRAINS ON! with more books and check out:
Brains On! Presents…It's Alive
Brains On! Presents…Road Trip Earth

AMAZON   /    B&N    /    BOOKS-A-MILLION

MY TIDBITS

This book buddies up with Earth and brings the idea of treating the planet with more respect home.

In these pages, Earth writes the reader a letter. Earth takes on a lovely personality, with tons of warmth, thought, and wit. It's not formal but holds the atmosphere of a friend talking to another friend. The laid back tone hints at lightness, allowing the more serious message to be made clear but without a sense of preachiness. Earth loves its friendship with humans (in particular, the reader) and simply is asking for a bit more care, as it explains its concerns. 

The illustrations bring all the different aspects to life with energy and enough details to make everything clear. A wide variety of situations and scenes are covered, but each one holds familiarity and has enough details to invite the reader to come back again and again. There's a light addition of humor...very light...to keep even the more serious images from growing overly heavy. And yet, the message comes across clearly and in a way the age group will connect with and understand. 

The entire read holds a tone of positivity and care. It offers a solid argument and progresses from there, showing the reader how to help Earth out. Earth never accuses the humans or scolds them, and I did appreciate this. Instead, it keeps the friendship at the forefront and ends with a smile.

And here they are...

Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez, and Sanden Totten are the creators of American Public Media’s Brains On! and the authors of It’s Alive and Road Trip Earth. They became friends while working at Minnesota Public Radio and decided to make a show for kids, because kids are awesome. They invite you to visit them at brainson.org, follow them @Brains_On, or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Mike Orodán is the author-illustrator of the Peek-a-Baby series, as well as Crossings by Katy S. Duffield. He lives in Surrey, England. He invites you to follow him on Instagram @thebundad.

Review: Little Brown by Marla Frazee

LITTLE BROWN

by Marla Frazee

Beach Lane Books

Picture Book

40 pages

ages 0 to 8

A grumpy and lonely little dog at the dog park decides to take matters into his own paws.

Little Brown is one cranky canine because no one ever plays with him at the dog park. Or maybe no one ever plays with him because he is cranky. Either way, Little Brown decides today is the day to take action, so he takes all of the toys and sticks and blankets from all of the dogs at the park and won’t give them back. But what will happen now?

MY TIDBITS

This is the sweetest, cranky doggy with a very difficult dilemma.

Little Brown is a cranky dog and none of the other dogs want to play with him. Whether it is because he is cranky, or whether he's become cranky since none of the other dogs play with him is something none of them can remember. He watches them play and wishes he could have fun too...if they would play with him. One day, when a ball rolls by, Little Brown has an idea.

The story touches the heart. Little Brown is cranky, but the circumstances surrounding his crankiness make him easy to identify with. It's hard not to wish that he'd find a friend to play with...or that the other dogs would give him a chance. It's the kind of character which immediately draws the reader in. The text flows nicely, and although some words might be a little difficult for the intended audience, it's a great way to expand the vocabulary.

The illustrations are well done and show as much emotion as the story itself. The dark, dreary colors add the perfect atmosphere, yet still allow the sweetness of the dogs to shine through. It's fun to see each dog with their own personality and watch how they interact...something kids will enjoy flipping through on their own.

The only thing which made me hesitate on this book is the ending. It's a cliff-hanger—one without any closure. The dogs face an important dilemma, one with a very important message, and it's dropped there. While this does open up for discussion and can be seen as a great way to launch kids into an exploration of how they would handle the situation, it doesn't work as a picture book for a normal story time or bedtime read...and this is something readers/parents/guardians should be aware of before purchasing the book. If you are open to using this as a launch pad to discussion (which is also a great thing), then this is a very lovely read and wonderfully done.


And here she is...
Marla Frazee was awarded a Caldecott Honor for All the World and A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, and the Boston Globe Horn Book Award for Picture Book for her wordless book The Farmer and the Clown. She is the author-illustrator of many books, including The Boss Baby, the book that inspired the DreamWorks Animation film Boss Baby. She has also illustrated many acclaimed picture books, including God Got a Dog by Cynthia Rylant and the New York Times bestselling Clementine chapter book series by Sara Pennypacker. She lives in Pasadena, California. Visit her at MarlaFrazee.com