Earth From Above for Young Readers

by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Robert Burleigh

Presents aerial photographs of various scenes from around the world including fishermen in Morrocco, a farm on the island of Crete, and a mangrove forest in New Caledonia.

Genres: Nonfiction, Photography, Picture Books, Childrens

78 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2001

About the author

Yann Arthus-Bertrand was born in a renowned jewellers' family founded by Claude Arthus-Bertrand and Michel-Ange Marion. His sister Catherine is one of his closest collaborators. He's been interested in nature and wildlife from an early age.
From the age of 17 he became involved in the movie industry. He gave up the movie industry in 1967 to run the Château de Saint Augustin wildlife park in Château sur Allier (centre of France). He then left the country with his wife Anne when he was 30 (1976) to live in Kenya in the Massai Mara national park. He lived amongst the Massai tribe for 3 years to study the behaviour of a lions’ family and took daily pictures of them during those years. He thus discovered a new passion for photography and the beauty of landscapes when observed from above in hot air balloons. He understood the power of a picture and how to communicate using this means.
He came back to France in 1981, published a photography book Lions in 1983, and became an international journalist, reporter and photographer specialising in documentaries on sports, wildlife and aerial photography for French magazines such as Paris Match and Geo. He photographed ten Paris-Dakar rallies. Every year he published a book on Rolland Garros, the tennis French open. He also took pictures every year at the Paris International Agricultural Show, and of Dian Fossey and gorillas in Rwanda.
In 1994 Arthus-Bertrand started a thorough study on the state of the Earth sponsored by UNESCO. Therefore he made a picture inventory of the world’s most beautiful landscapes taken from helicopters and balloons. The book from this project, Earth from Above (‘la Terre vue du ciel’) sold over 3 million copies and was translated into 24 languages.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures were ok but some of the text is surprisingly dated.

[Shaundell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Arthus-Bertrand is a world-renown photographer who made it a goal to photograph the world from up high. He uses a helicopter and has been in more than 100 countries taking tens of thousands of pictures of people, places, animals, historical sites, etc. Mr. Burleigh has written the delightful text that accompanies the pictures. The following are the list of the places discussed in the book:

New Caledonia (near Australia): A mangrove forest with heart
Botswana (southern Africa): Elephants on the go
Venezuela (northern South America): Scarlet ibis brighten the sky
Mali (western Africa): A garden in the desert & Steering through the Niger River & Moving crops on the Niger River
Niger (western Africa): Camel caravan & Village life
Antarctica: Penguins prepare for a plunge
France: A volcano blows its top & This house is an island
Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast in western Africa): Clouds of cotton & Fishing on a ghostly lake
Morocco (northwest Africa): Fishermen repair their nets & Village houses row on row & Bright vats of dye & Harvesting salt from marshes & Erosion in the gorge & Carpets for sale
Indonesia: Terraced rice fields
United States: Coast to coast & A hot spring in Yellowstone & Play ball
Egypt (northern edge of Africa): An obelisk in the desert & Drying dates in a palm grove & A plant takes over
Argentina (southern tip of South America): A whale’s tale
Spain: Vineyard by a volcano
Greece: A farmer in Crete
Senegal (west coast of Africa): Selling fish in a open-air market
Brazil (east South America): Floating wood down the Amazon
England: The white horse
Kenya (east Africa): A lone shady spot
Mauritania (northwest corner of Africa): Pink flamingos

The book is oversized and the beautiful color pictures for each little story cover two pages. Located on the right side of the page is the text, each with at least three paragraphs describing the place mentioned. The text also talks about problems faced by the area, and how we, as stewards of the earth, might have to make decisions about the resources that are available. Wonderful, wonderful book!!

[Jeremiah Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

We borrowed this book for Classical Conversations Cycle 1.

We got the book to see diverse global locations and people, and wow, what an amazing book! The photos are unique and really amazing. The kids loved the book, and as a photographer myself I really enjoyed reading about how Arthus-Bertrand made the shots. The kids wanted to view specific photos again and again, and we went through the book at least a dozen times in the 2 weeks we borrowed the book.

Excellent book, highly recommended for kids! We're going to look for his other works now as well.

[Melany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Earth From Above for Young Readers by Yann Arthus- Bertrand is a nonfiction book intended for all ages. This book is full of beautiful, interesting photos that anyone would enjoy looking at. This book reveals the diversity of the world's cultures and climes. Young readers will appreciate this book because of the depths it took to get such beautiful pictures. I give this book 5 stars because of the pictures. They are breath taking. I would use this book to show my students different areas of the world and the unique qualities they posses.

[Whole And · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous photographs of this great planet with specific teachings related to various regions and the work they are known for. From cotton in Africa, dye in Morocco, schoolyards in California, Elephants in Botswana and Penguins in Antarctica, see the world from a higher perspective as you've never seen it before. Absolutely breath taking.

[JennLynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spectacular images along with informative, thought-provoking text make this an ideal book for interesting kids in geography and the world's amazing diversity. My only wish is that it had been a lot longer - the 35 or so images is only a fraction of the full volume.

[Jamie Gottlieb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of beautiful, interesting photos that my kids and I enjoyed looking at. It's one of those books that makes us learn something without even being aware of the learning going on. The text was also interesting for children and adults.

[Ami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning photos. I should read the grown-up version!