Dear Earth

How can we support the planet?

Tessa’s grandfather used to be an explorer and loves talking about the Earth. Inspired, Tessa decides to write a letter to the Earth, explaining that she, too, wants to be an explorer and describing where she’d like to go, incorporating detail both factual (“Most of your surface is covered in water”) and poetic (“I want to dive into your deep oceans and see shoals of swirling fish”). Inventive illustrations with whimsical proportions and perspectives show Tessa as she imagines swimming, running, and flying her way across the globe, full of excitement and curiosity as she investigates…

The beauty and marvels of the planet take center stage in a passionate picture book love letter to Earth written by Isabel Otter (This Love). Accompanied by illustrator Clara Anganuzzi's dramatic illustrations, the missive makes for a persuasive argument in favor of conservation and a delightful way to introduce the ideas to a young audience. Otter's child protagonist, Tessa, has the same wild hair, light-brown complexion and rounded figure as her grandpa, who "had been an explorer once." Tessa, inspired by Grandpa's adventures, writes a letter telling the planet about all the miraculous…

Building from the titular address, a child’s epistolary appreciations form the basis of this landscape-focused ode. Inspired by stories of global adventure from her grandfather, who “had been an explorer once,” young Tessa decides to write a letter to Earth. Sharing visions of ecological grandeur and hopes for her own travel-filled future, she expresses interest in visiting arctic ice floes, desert dunes, and mangrove forests, and encountering the many creatures that call these habitats home. Washed in pale colors, Anganuzzi’s soft-edged paintings, which alternate between horizontal and…

Children's Books to Celebrate Earth Day. April 22, is Earth Day, an annual global event to support environmental protection. Here are some excellent recent children's books that bring kids into nature--both close to home and far away--and show them the world in need of saving.The beauty and marvels of the planet take center stage in the passionate picture book love letter Dear Earth by Isabel Otter (Tiger Tales, $18.99, ages 3-7). Accompanied by Clara Anganuzzi's dramatic illustrations, the missive makes for a persuasive argument in favor of conservation, and a delightful way to introduce…