I Love Our Earth

by Bill Martin Jr., Michael Sampson, Dan Lipow (Photographer)

Celebrate our home in this joyous, poetic tribute to the Earth's colors, climates, and seasons. Panoramic photographs capture the majesty of nature from swirling deserts to curling ocean waves. Close-ups reveal quieter treasures like springy moss and sunlit leaves. Tying all these wonders together are the faces of children from around the globe, reflecting our shared connection to the planet.

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Nature, Childrens, Photography, Earth, Nonfiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Bill Martin, Jr. (1916-2004) was an elementary-school principal, teacher, writer, and poet. His more than 300 books, among them the bestselling classics Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See ; Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear ; Panda Bear Panda Bear What Do You See ; and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom , are a testament to his ability to speak directly to children. Martin held a doctoral degree in early childhood education. Born in Kansas, he worked as an elementary-school principal in Chicago before moving to New York City, where he worked in publishing, developing innovative reading programs for schools. After several years, he devoted himself full-time to writing his children's books. He lived in New York until 1993, when he moved to Texas. He lived in the east Texas woods, near the town of Commerce, until he passed away in 2004.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/billma...

Reviews

[Lindsey Reece]

This book was very fascinating to me because it uses real photographs on each page. Each photograph is of a different landscape but the colors are so vibrant and welcoming. I also liked how they paired a photograph of a child next to each scenery picture. I think that helps children reading the book to imagine themselves there. I would use this book in a lower elementary classroom to introduce the ideas of climate and biomes. The students could even use this book to generate ideas to create their own biomes in class!

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martin Quest #29
Basically a short poem interspersed with photos of earth.
It was ok and could bring up some conversations about grass and mountains and sunsets, and the role we have in looking after the earth, and the creator of it all.
If used as a springboard for these things it is good, otherwise it is well an average poem with some nice pictures.

[Mayra Velazquez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed how this book shows the beautiful features of our home, Earth. It allows the reader to learn about the Earth's seasons, climates and colors. I would love to show this for students that are in grades k-1.

[Maeve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tribute to the Earth (with a focus on colors and climates).

Storytime:
Nature

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a beautifully presented book that combined so much within its so few pages that it could be an example that less is more. The reader will be taken by its breathtaking nature pictures that are combined with various people photos that contribute to a global picture album of mankind.

At the same time the writing is within the most basic format with no difficult words that will stumble up many young beginning readers. The bold format and few words are given more impact by the slight rhythm that can be found in the reading of this story.

Lastly what I found interesting with this particular book is that it can be used to teach children various concepts. The book is in three segments all of which start over the poem by using the title comment of "I Love Our Earth...". The first segment allows children to explore elements of the earth such as mountains, oceans and grass while exploring the colors that predominantly make-up these environments. Following this dive into the world of nature readers then are taken on a journey of opposites such as warm and cool or dry and wet while ending on an exploration of the seasons.

All in all this is a wonderful book to get children started on exploring the world around them and the various parts that contribute to its beauty and uniqueness. Even adults may benefit from reading the book in being reminded of the beauty of simplicity.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the pictures in this book so much. They're really spectacular. The words are also nice, but they don't measure up to how pretty the pictures are.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love to share picture books with real photographs as the illustrations. The text shares different features that people can see around the world - deserts, winds, moss, stars, etc. Each large scenic photograph also shares an image of a person. The photographer, Dan Lipow, "trekked over five continents" for the images in this book. It's a great multicultural book! If the images also had text as to where the photos were taken, that would have been an added bonus.

2015 Theme: Earth Day
2017 storytime theme: Earth Day
- During storytime, we signed "I", "Love", "World" whenever the phrase "I love our earth" came up in the text.

Reviewed from a library copy.

[The Reading Countess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only Bill Martin could package such lush photographs with simple text to drive home the book's message: our home is full of beautiful natural resources and as stewards of the earth, we hold a great responsiblity.

The sparse text allowed me to ask Youngest to point to words on each page that he could identify. He felt proud of himself for "reading" the words, and that only added to our time with this book.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The photographs in this book are awesome, from all over the world with children of the world. Short poetic verses. This book was suggested in our SRP manual to go with the theme "Dig into Reading". Don't think it was the greatest read aloud, but it worked if I asked the "crowd" if they had been to places like we are seeing.

[Marilyn Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, especially since it was written in Spanish and English. The students can repeat, "amo nuestra Tierra" each time it is said in the book. Good choice for an earth day book for kindergarteners.

[Contemplative · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be good to read for Earth Day. We tied it into recycling and doing our part even for young children like ours.

[Margaret Towery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very simple text with multicultural photos of the colors and attributes of our beautiful world. Text is also in Spanish.

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a simple message about the beauty of our Earth. The photographs are beautiful.

[Karen Dransfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely photographic story to share about our lovely world. Lots of different places with different environments, lots of bright and interesting colours.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Earth Day
Global pics
Bilingual

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful photography. Easy words. Lovely sentiments.

[Shelby]

I Love Our Earth is about the little details most people over look. Things like the dew, the moss, sunset, stars, snow, leafs changing colors. A very simple read that makes you appreciate the Earth.

The pictures are extremely detailed along with the words. It was a very short, but good read. I enjoyed the colors and choice of words.

This book would be fun for younger ages to go out and explore some of the things we've talked about. It could also be turned into a project where each person/group got a page or a few pages and research some more information about what was on there assigned page(s) and then share with the class. It could also be read on Earth Day in class to have the students reflect what they love and appreciate about the Earth.

[Christine Turner]

Photo-illustrations are outdated.

[Amy Erwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary - I love our Earth and all the little but yet great things about it.


Response - I loved how the "illustrations" were all actual photographs of Earth. They were beautiful and captured the beauty God has made. Every page expressed a beautiful picture of nature that rhymed with the next page.


Classroom - Lesson
1) About the Earth - sunset, grass, stars, etc
2) Different Seasons