Author: Kwame Alexander
Photographer: Joel Sartore
© Date: 2017
Publisher: National Geographic
Pages: 44
Chapters: No
Photographs: Yes, every page layout
Publisher Recommended Age: 1-5 years
Bonus Activities at End of Book: No, but there is a listing of the animals shown with their IUCN listings and notes from the photographer and writer
Summary from Book: We are family. Miraculous each.
A howling wolf, a stalking tiger, a playful panda, a dancing bird-they are all part of our wonderful world. And each is equally important, no matter how large or small, on sea or shore, sharp or soft, protected or endangered.
Turn each page of this photographic ark and celebrate the beauty, diversity, and fragility of the animal world, with incredible photographs from National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore, who has made it his life’s work to show the world as many of Earth’s creatures as he can. And giving a voice to each is Newbery Medal-winning author Kwame Alexander, with a mix of playful and powerful poetry, calling on each one of us to save and defend our animal family.
So, meet the majestic mandrill, the venomous viper, the colorful chameleon, and more than 100 other extraordinary species. For we are forever connected as a family. And this family-of people, animals, and the planet-is stronger together.
Page Pig Thoughts: Combining the incredible, captivating photos of Joel Sartore with beautiful, engaging Kwame Alexander poetry, what’s not to love?
The words are short and sweet thanks to haiku being the type of poetry used throughout the book. Yet, the carefully chosen words are endearing and thought provoking all at once (please see Item of Interest #1 below). This book felt beautiful, not soap boxy, and inspires wanting to be aware of our surroundings. I appreciated that many species were large and highlighted with the poetry, but you could open pages to find lots of little images of species, like tiny windows of seeing things when we look a little more closely. We could look through this one over and over again.
Family Unit: Indicates that we are all family
Conflict/Social Issues:
- Mentions that if we are not careful, the story will end for some. The animals are counting on us.
Positive Items:
- While mentioning that the animals are depending on us, it also says that if you listen closely, you can hear “hope with wings.”
- The intriguing words dance around the animals highlighted on the pages.
- Turn out pages have small photos of lots more animals that just the main ones.
Items of Interest:
- The Asian Millipeded is shown with words indicating 100 legs are present, which made me wonder just how many legs a millipede really does have?
- The listing of animals at the end of the story indicate that a feather-tailed centipede, a red celestial eye goldfish, and a quokka were in the book. I was disappointed that I couldn’t find any of those in the copy that I had from the library.
Other Books in Series (At Time of Posting):
- Not really a series, but Photo Ark ABC [review] is another picture book with Joel Sartore photographs
- Photo Ark has several other books
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