Review: Earth Friend Forever by Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez and Sanden Totten

 

EARTH FRIEND FOREVER

by Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez, and Sanden Totten

Illustrated by Mike Orodan

Little, Brown and Company

Picture Book

48 pages 

pages 4 to 8

The creators of Brains On!, the award-winning science podcast for kids, present a humorous, fact- and fun-filled look at the effects of plastic on Earth and how young readers can help protect their planet. Perfect for STEM enthusiasts!
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Hi Friend,
It’s me, Earth! I hope you like living on me, but we need to talk.
I need your help to solve a BIG problem…You’re covering me with plastic!
But don’t worry, I know you’ve got my back—after all, you do live on it.
Love, Your Earth Friend Forever

Told in the form of a letter from Earth to the reader, this humorous picture book takes an in-depth look at how the actions of humans, particularly their use of plastic, is impacting the planet and how they can make simple changes in their every day life to help protect the place they call home. Additional back matter includes a letter from the reader to Earth, information on what plastic is and how it's made, and scientific solutions that are currently in the works.

Turn your BRAINS ON! with more books and check out:
Brains On! Presents…It's Alive
Brains On! Presents…Road Trip Earth

AMAZON   /    B&N    /    BOOKS-A-MILLION

MY TIDBITS

This book buddies up with Earth and brings the idea of treating the planet with more respect home.

In these pages, Earth writes the reader a letter. Earth takes on a lovely personality, with tons of warmth, thought, and wit. It's not formal but holds the atmosphere of a friend talking to another friend. The laid back tone hints at lightness, allowing the more serious message to be made clear but without a sense of preachiness. Earth loves its friendship with humans (in particular, the reader) and simply is asking for a bit more care, as it explains its concerns. 

The illustrations bring all the different aspects to life with energy and enough details to make everything clear. A wide variety of situations and scenes are covered, but each one holds familiarity and has enough details to invite the reader to come back again and again. There's a light addition of humor...very light...to keep even the more serious images from growing overly heavy. And yet, the message comes across clearly and in a way the age group will connect with and understand. 

The entire read holds a tone of positivity and care. It offers a solid argument and progresses from there, showing the reader how to help Earth out. Earth never accuses the humans or scolds them, and I did appreciate this. Instead, it keeps the friendship at the forefront and ends with a smile.

And here they are...

Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez, and Sanden Totten are the creators of American Public Media’s Brains On! and the authors of It’s Alive and Road Trip Earth. They became friends while working at Minnesota Public Radio and decided to make a show for kids, because kids are awesome. They invite you to visit them at brainson.org, follow them @Brains_On, or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Mike Orodán is the author-illustrator of the Peek-a-Baby series, as well as Crossings by Katy S. Duffield. He lives in Surrey, England. He invites you to follow him on Instagram @thebundad.