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Planet Earth: What Planet Are You On? is a clever way to introduce youngsters to the greenhouse effect, explain the difference between climate and weather or longitude and latitude, and delve into how a delta is formed.
By transforming the subjects that one needs to know more about to study the Earth and its governing principles into characters and then combining them into groups, the author and illustrator make this material comprehensible to young readers.
After separating the subjects into six groupings (The Insiders, Going Global, Landlubbers, Wet!Wet!Wet!, Weather Gang and Lively Crew), the author further breaks them down into "characters" such as Erosion, Glacier, Seasons, Hurricane and minerals.
Each "character" is presented in a double-page spread that includes an illustration of the character and a full page of information. For example, for Tide (a member of the Wet! Wet! Wet! group), you'll discover that he is a child of the Moon despite being stuck down here on Earth, and that he is a very changeable fellow who spends his time going in and out.
In the narrative, Tide explains "I owe my power over the world's oceans to the moon. The pull of its gravity drags water toward it. I am always highest on the part of Earth facing the Moon, where the Moon is directly overhead, and on the opposite side of the planet."
You also discover that the Mediterranean and the Caribbean seas have almost no tidal range, and that the world's greatest daily tidal range (55 feet) is on the Canadian Atlantic coast at the Bay of Fundy.
Using this type of personification information about such subjects as weather change, the components of the Earth, biomes and the role water plays on the planet makes them accessible and understandable for young people who are just beginning a study of the planet they live on.
Science is often thought of as a rather formidable subject, but the books in this series created by Simon Basher have opened the door and invited elementary school children into a marvelous world of discovery and wonder. Studying science - and in this instance, planet Earth - can be a lot of fun!
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Planet Earth: What Planet Are You On?