Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth
By Oliver Jeffers
Publisher: Philomel Books
ISBN-10: 0399167897
Age Range: 3-7 years old
48 Pages, Hardcover
$13.54 on Amazon
Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth is a new book by Oliver Jeffers, the acclaimed illustrator who brought you The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home. Jeffers wrote Here We Are after the birth of his son, giving him a glimpse of the solar system, the planets, stars and life on Earth in such a heartfelt and humorous way. I know how Jeffers feels, it's daunting and scary to be responsible for a tiny baby and to also know that you are the person they go to when they ask questions. Jeffers explains it all: the land and the sea, the different terrain from the pointy mountains to the wet pond, subterranean sea life, animals, day and night, city life and all the complexities of the solar system and stars. I also love that he brings up humanity (something we need now more than ever) at the end of the book and subtly shows us that as different as we all are, we are all humans and the same. That there are so many people that you can ask questions to and that "You're never alone on Earth."
Not only will kids love absorbing all of the detail in the beautiful illustrations, parents will love how poignant it is. Speaking of parents, if you ever need a gift to give to new parents, this is the book to give!
Jeffers is an amazing illustrator. I was personally drawn to all of the planetary and star imagery in this book. My daughter Chloe just turned nine years old last Tuesday. When I first read this book with Chloe, I got really nostalgic thinking back to her toddler days and our good night starry ritual. Here's our ritual: When Chloe was almost two, each night before bed, we would go to the really large windows (floor to ceiling) in our condo building that overlooked onto other tall buildings and city streets of San Francisco. We would look up at the sky and find the moon in all of it's various stages. We would try to find a bright star to make a wish on. Sometimes what we thought was a star, ended up being a plane, far away. Whenever we did see a plane, I'd ask her where she thought the plane was going to and she would always answer surely, "Hawaii". We would then take our time to say good night to everything: the sky, stars, moon and also say good night to our little dog Lulu (who was already snoring in her bed) and her friends outside: Gello that was in the really big high-rise building across from us and Lucy who lived just on the other side of the Bay Bridge.
Recently, I asked Chloe if she remembered our good night ritual at the bedroom window. She smiled and said she did and told me how much fun it was doing that with me each night. We laughed about saying good night to the doggie friends and that she always said a plane was flying to Hawaii. These days, Chloe can already spot and name more constellations than I can. Just thinking back to that good night ritual and all of her young innocence and wonder, just made me feel warm inside.
As I think now about Jeffers and his baby son, I know they will have so many more memories like mine that they can share together and reminisce later on as years go by. And just as he mentions in the book, it all just goes by too fast.
Here's Chloe at 3.5 years old and our Pomeranian Lulu at 5 years old.
Watch the book trailer:
Review book provided by the Penguin.
