Diane Z. Shore

"This is the land, / fertile, alive, / crawling with creatures / That help it to thrive. / This is the river, / flowing and free, / streaming with fish / as it swells to the sea." And so begins this poetic picture-book examination of the beauties of the earth, and the history of human interaction with it. Written along the lines of the famous nursery rhyme, The House That Jack Built, Diane Z. Shore and Jessica Alexander's text outlines the many human activities that affect the earth, whether show more for good or ill, concluding with actions that we all can take to help the environment, "Making a difference, / becoming aware, / together we live / on this Earth that we share."

With its rollicking cadence and colorful artwork, This Is the Earth would make an excellent read-aloud title, one that educates as it engages and entertains. One of four picture-books that will be featured during an Earth Day event here at work, it offers both a celebration of our planetary home and an ecological lesson. I appreciated the fact that those behaviors which harm the earth - pollution, over-use of resources - are followed by those that can help, leaving the young reader/listener with a positive model of what can be achieved in the end, rather than a sad one of what has gone wrong. The watercolor artwork by Wendell Minor is lovely, and ably conveys the ideas and images mentioned in the rhyming text. Recommended to anyone looking for picture-book with an ecological theme, particularly for Earth Day! show less

Sibling tensions and teasing hit full swing in these pages.

Bradley has an older brother, one that only wants to sit on the couch and watch television. But Bradley wants to play, so he decides to make his brother's life a little more difficult. With step-by-step care, Bradley explains the various ways he drives his brother crazy. The pranks are simple but effective, and are sure to leave readers laughing more than once or twice.

This is a simple book for those beginning readers, who are show more getting the hang of their words but aren't completely smooth quite yet. The large font, ample spacing, and short lines keep the text from feeling overwhelming. Still, it flows smoothly and lets readers fall into the story. The illustrations make every page come to visual life and add extra fun. It's well suited to the intended age group and will even be one for more reluctant readers to enjoy.

Not only brothers will enjoy the pranks and teasing in these pages. Bradley has it out for his brother, and he is relentless. The book has Bradley speaking to the reader as he explains everything he does, a bit like a how-to book. The pranks are simple and age appropriate, but whether they would really work in real life is another question all together. Still, the situations edge to over-the-top, and it's hard to guess what Bradley will come up with next. This makes a fun read with few serious moments, but the promise of tons of smiles and giggles along the way. show less

“This is the Dream”

I liked this book for two reasons. I liked the language. It had a lot of rhyming words, which gave it a steady flow. This made the message of the book more powerful. For example, the language in the line “with harsh written words that are slapped on the walls, denying both freedom and justice for all” gave a sense of how poorly conditions were. The flow of this sentence makes it easy for the reader to understand and remember.
The second reason why I liked this show more book is because of the illustrations. They gave me a visual of what life was like during segregation and how they were separate but not equal. One of the images was that of a school for white children and the image beside was of a school for black children. The school for black children looked worse than the school for white children and it had less resources. This image enhanced the idea that they were indeed separate but not equal. The images at the end of the book show how America has come a long way with pictures of all races sitting together. The message of this book is that there people who had to endure and fight (peacefully) so that everyone could live amongst each other peacefully. show less

This powerful book takes us from Jim Crow times to the realization of rights gained through the Civil Rights Movement. I knew I had to grab this one up when I saw that the illustrator was James Ransome. His realistic paintings with collage-style borders add drama and immediacy to the simple rhymes comprising the text. Although most of the story is told through the pictures, the poetic words manage to convey an enormous amount in the simple two lines that accompany each 2-page image: “These show more are the buses – a dime buys a ride/ but the people are sorted by color inside.” “These are the diners who sit and who wait/ at the “WHITES ONLY” counter, ignoring the hate.” “These are the marchers who forge through the street/ as they carry their message through shimmering heat.”

The authors state in an afterword that they are celebrating the power of nonviolent change: "…there is always room in our world for the kind of bravery that takes nonviolent action to create a better place. May this book be a testament to the courage of those who did and, above all, to peace.” show less