For thirty years J. Patrick Lewis was a college professor, teaching economics. Now he plays with words and hangs out with kids at elementary schools. He is out to prove that "poetry is ear candy," and to inspire a simpatico connection with the natural wonders that surround us. "If there is a better way to spend a lifetime," he says, "I can't imagine what it would be."
The illustrator, Christopher Canyon is irrepressibly playful as well as passionate about illustrating children's picture books. He teaches illustration at the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio, is a frequent speaker at professional events, and his illustrations have been displayed in several national exhibitions. But his favorite audience is children and he makes a point of visiting schools often. Two of his previous books for Dawn Publications, The Tree in the Ancient Forest and Stickeen, have won the Benjamin Franklin Award as best illustrated children's picture book of the year. Christopher lives with his wife and cat in central Ohio.
Kindergarten-Grade 4-Spectacular double-page paintings and a poetic, cautionary text celebrate the diversity of creatures living in the world's many habitats and express the hope that nature's wonders can be protected in the future. Pairs of animals discuss the beauty and distinction of their homes. Among them are a crane and a hummingbird gliding through the sky, a blue whale and a bright pink octopus drifting in the bubbly ocean, a salmon heavy with eggs and an agile frog splashing in the river, and a mountain lion and a longhorn sheep confronting one another on a snowy peak. Other venues are a lake, volcano, woodland, rain forest, wetlands, grassland, polar region, desert, town (a cat and dog converse), and school, where a teacher tells a child that animals have much to tell us about life. The writing is stately and serious and befits the ecological theme. The realistic artwork is beautifully detailed, richly colored, and dramatic, using a variety of perspectives. Altogether, this earnest title should inspire an interest in and respect for nature.
Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.