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Our World: A First Book of Geography
A read-aloud introduction to geography for young children that, when opened and folded back, creates a freestanding globe
Children are invited to identify and experience the Earth's amazing geography through rhyming verse and lush illustrations: from rivers, lakes, and oceans deep, to valleys, hills, and mountains steep. Secondary text offers more detailed, curriculum-focused facts and encourages readers to consider their own living environments, making the reading experience personal yet set within a global backdrop. This informative homage to Earth is sure to inspire readers to learn more about their planet – and to engage with the world around them.
Ages 2–5
Children are invited to identify and experience the Earth's amazing geography through rhyming verse and lush illustrations: from rivers, lakes, and oceans deep, to valleys, hills, and mountains steep. Secondary text offers more detailed, curriculum-focused facts and encourages readers to consider their own living environments, making the reading experience personal yet set within a global backdrop. This informative homage to Earth is sure to inspire readers to learn more about their planet – and to engage with the world around them.
Ages 2–5
26 pages, Board Book
Published July 15, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
July 22, 2020
The shape of this book catches the eye immediately. The top two-thirds of the book is shaped like a globe with the bottom third looking like a stand. When you open it up it looks and feels as if you are holding a globe. That makes for a fun touch for a book that introduces young readers/listeners to basic geography about the world. The two types of print make the book appropriate to share with preschoolers as well as older readers. The large type presents shorter phrases introducing the different types of habitat and land features while briefly mentioning weather and continents. The smaller text on the right hand pages presents additional information for those who are ready and interested. The focus of the book though are the illustrations that highlight the globe shape of the book. This novelty board book makes for a great way to introduce young children to the world and its habitats. There is much to discuss and the book is fun to handle.
July 17, 2020
This beautiful board book shaped like a globe will stand out for kids. The simple rhyming text introduces biomes, landforms, weather, and even expands into space. Sidebars prompt readers to linger and explore and think about where you live. The basic concepts extend with the potential for multiple ages gathered round for the reading.
October 30, 2020
What a unique book! Shaped like the globe, your child will be able to open it and fan out the pages to form a globe. The info is super interesting - and the fabulous illustrations make it engaging even for the very little ones.
July 22, 2020
Our World is not only a beautifully written and illustrated board book about our world but when folded back it becomes a freestanding globe with a magnetic closure. Excuse the pun, but this is an out-of-this-world concept. The illustrator, Lisk Feng, did an outstanding job of bringing Sue Gallion's words to life.
Our World begins with,
Many places to explore,
From mountain peaks to ocean floor.
Look around you, step outside . . .
Find forests tall
And grasslands wide.
The poem continues by mentioning jungles, deserts, polar caps, bodies of water, mountains, etc.
On the opposite page from each poem, there is a brief exposition of the natural wonders that are vividly depicted.
This page describes the rivers, lakes, and oceans. The text reads:
High in the mountains, snow melts and flows downstream to form rivers. Other rivers begin as underground springs or lakes. Rivers flow into oceans. Did you know that most of our planet is covered in oceans? Fish, coral, and other animals thrive in shallow waters. Some creatures also live in the cold, black ocean depths. In some places, the ocean is deeper than the tallest mountains on Earth!
One of the pages shows the whole world. The poem reads,
Continents large, islands small,
Salty seas surrounding all.
The second to the last page shows a view of earth from outer space as an astronaut might see it. The exposition reads, "The light and warmth from the sun is what makes life on Earth possible for plants, animals, and humans too." The poem reads,
Our blue planet,
Warmed by sun:
The reader turns to the last page and finds a sweet illustration with this simple, yet poignant text:
A living home for everyone.
Because of the way in which the book is constructed, toddlers will enjoy flipping the pages and seeing how the magnets make the globe stick together. Pre-readers will enjoy rhythmic poetry. The text is informative for second through fourth graders, which makes the book a great preschool and elementary school resource when studying geography and ecosystems.
You'll find an activity guide here and a hands-on activity guide to make an inflatable globe here.
Our World begins with,
Many places to explore,
From mountain peaks to ocean floor.
Look around you, step outside . . .
Find forests tall
And grasslands wide.
The poem continues by mentioning jungles, deserts, polar caps, bodies of water, mountains, etc.
On the opposite page from each poem, there is a brief exposition of the natural wonders that are vividly depicted.
This page describes the rivers, lakes, and oceans. The text reads:
High in the mountains, snow melts and flows downstream to form rivers. Other rivers begin as underground springs or lakes. Rivers flow into oceans. Did you know that most of our planet is covered in oceans? Fish, coral, and other animals thrive in shallow waters. Some creatures also live in the cold, black ocean depths. In some places, the ocean is deeper than the tallest mountains on Earth!
One of the pages shows the whole world. The poem reads,
Continents large, islands small,
Salty seas surrounding all.
The second to the last page shows a view of earth from outer space as an astronaut might see it. The exposition reads, "The light and warmth from the sun is what makes life on Earth possible for plants, animals, and humans too." The poem reads,
Our blue planet,
Warmed by sun:
The reader turns to the last page and finds a sweet illustration with this simple, yet poignant text:
A living home for everyone.
Because of the way in which the book is constructed, toddlers will enjoy flipping the pages and seeing how the magnets make the globe stick together. Pre-readers will enjoy rhythmic poetry. The text is informative for second through fourth graders, which makes the book a great preschool and elementary school resource when studying geography and ecosystems.
You'll find an activity guide here and a hands-on activity guide to make an inflatable globe here.
Read
July 17, 2020The tactile element adds a bit of fun to this terrific impressionistic introduction to the geographic regions that make up planet Earth. Review and Author Q&A coming to the blog next week!
July 12, 2020
Gallion's nonfiction book about our earth has two layers of text: snappy, rhyming text for the youngest readers and more detailed sidebars for the oldest. Teachers will like the simple illustrations for young kids showing differences for river, lake, & ocean. Different biomes of the world are showcased. Note: 1 line of evolution. This is a creative book to teach children geography!
July 12, 2020
Young children are introduced to the world's geography through this novelty board book written in rhyming verse. Secondary text provides more detailed information. And when opened, the book takes the shape of a freestanding globe. How clever!
Read
March 27, 2022Unique. Clever. Gorgeous. My kid loves it. So do I.
May 17, 2020
"Many places to explore,
From mountain peaks to ocean floor.
Look around you, step outside . . ."
There's so much to love about this book! The novelty format is perfect for little hands. The rhyming text is paired with informational text for readers who want more depth. The shape of the book helps children better understand what a globe is. This book is both engaging and informative!
From mountain peaks to ocean floor.
Look around you, step outside . . ."
There's so much to love about this book! The novelty format is perfect for little hands. The rhyming text is paired with informational text for readers who want more depth. The shape of the book helps children better understand what a globe is. This book is both engaging and informative!
September 14, 2020
This globe shaped board book is sure to be a hit with readers young and old. Simple, rhyming text introduces children to our world's various geographical features. Sidebars go into more depth for those readers who want more information. The gorgeous illustrations will help keep children engaged, as well. This is a must have!
October 3, 2020
This book is an absolute knockout. There's nothing like it. The author and the illustrator have created the perfect introduction to geography for the youngest readers, with notes that can make the book (that turns into a globe) satisfying for older readers. Great for sharing with grandparents, too.
May 17, 2020
A beautiful book about geography. The illustrations done by LISK FENG are stunning and it is a great book to read to your kids. You can explore all the beautiful places of planet earth and feel blessed that we live in such a breathtaking world.
October 17, 2020
What a wonderful introduction to geography! The writing is lovely -- it's a simple rhyming poem with deeper explanations offered too. I love the art and the way the book stands up like a globe. A great combination.
August 17, 2020
This is such a clever book!
February 6, 2021
Clear, concise & Gorgeous!
Love the globe
Love the globe
February 17, 2021
This was pretty cool. I love that you can read it in a couple different ways depending on the age of the child, and turning it into a free-standing globe was fun!
August 6, 2020
Kids can explore their planet with this fun interactive board book that folds out into the shape of a globe. The cover is magnetized to snap into place and hold together open as a globe. But it can also be read as a book.
The book is written mainly for 2-5 year-olds with a rhyming scheme that covers all parts of our word including the frozen tundra to forests to lakes and rivers to jungles. Then in smaller print, there is more information that parents or older kids can read and even use to help explain more information to the younger children as they become more curious.
The whole book uses the same color scheme and muted tones to display the various parts of our world using greens, oranges, and blues. Sometimes the circle is divided into parts to show rivers, lakes, and the sea or sometimes it is a whole image of penguins playing around some open water. There is something to point out and discuss in the illustrations on each page.
I really like that even though this is a board book, the book can grow along with your children as they begin to want to learn more about our world. This book would be great for a homeschool or regular school classroom. Keeping it open like a globe would add a fun dimension to your bookshelf at home, turning it every day to see a different part of our world.
The book is extremely high-quality and durable with strong pages to hold up to lots of reading and rereading. This is an excellent resource for kids, especially when using alongside a globe to point out the different parts of our world.
The book is written mainly for 2-5 year-olds with a rhyming scheme that covers all parts of our word including the frozen tundra to forests to lakes and rivers to jungles. Then in smaller print, there is more information that parents or older kids can read and even use to help explain more information to the younger children as they become more curious.
The whole book uses the same color scheme and muted tones to display the various parts of our world using greens, oranges, and blues. Sometimes the circle is divided into parts to show rivers, lakes, and the sea or sometimes it is a whole image of penguins playing around some open water. There is something to point out and discuss in the illustrations on each page.
I really like that even though this is a board book, the book can grow along with your children as they begin to want to learn more about our world. This book would be great for a homeschool or regular school classroom. Keeping it open like a globe would add a fun dimension to your bookshelf at home, turning it every day to see a different part of our world.
The book is extremely high-quality and durable with strong pages to hold up to lots of reading and rereading. This is an excellent resource for kids, especially when using alongside a globe to point out the different parts of our world.
September 18, 2023
This popped out at me from the board books shelf at my library, and even my seven-year-old gravitated toward it when he saw it in the stack of books at home. The "globe" shape is not only a novelty but educational. I do wish wish they'd somehow found a way make the map of the earth (that looks like a globe when the pages are spread) stand up better if you wanted to leave this out for study. As it is, it's toward the back and it doesn't really stay open if you prop it up. The art is pleasant and my son suggested right away that the first spread (of snorkelers in an ocean surrounded by tropical fish, with distant green-brown mountains behind) is Hawaii. That's a great guess. It remains a guess, because the book doesn't identify what place on earth each illustration represents. It's hoped that adults will bring in some of their knowledge to share with young readers but I do find this an unfortunate omission in a book meant to be educational. For example, the spread about "deserts dry" features two different deserts, one with a Bactrian camel and one with a dromedary camel, and mentions that some deserts are super-hot but other deserts are always cold. What deserts are we referring to? In which type of desert do these animals live? It's at one too-much info and not-enough. I do think the appealing design of the book, with the "globe" feature and attractive illustrations is enough to recommend this for a pleasant look-see at the geography of our planet, but supplemental material will be needed to really explore the different areas presented.
December 21, 2020
You should never underestimate the power of those books conceived to be the first ones held in tiny hands. The best of them fascinate readers of all ages. Using less space and length than other titles, their words, art, and layout are designed with intention to convey specific concepts, often with humor, beauty, and cleverness.
These books caught my attention in 2020.
Our planet, Earth, is the only one we have. The more we know about her, the better able we are to take action to protect her and the abundant life in every corner of the land, air, and water. Our World: A First Book Of Geography (Phaidon Press Inc., July 22, 2020) written by Sue Lowell Gallion with pictures by Lisk Feng is a factual and pictorial representation of places all over our planet. In a glorious burst of ingenuity, it is designed, when opened, to form a globe.
My full recommendation: https://librariansquest.blogspot.com/...
These books caught my attention in 2020.
Our planet, Earth, is the only one we have. The more we know about her, the better able we are to take action to protect her and the abundant life in every corner of the land, air, and water. Our World: A First Book Of Geography (Phaidon Press Inc., July 22, 2020) written by Sue Lowell Gallion with pictures by Lisk Feng is a factual and pictorial representation of places all over our planet. In a glorious burst of ingenuity, it is designed, when opened, to form a globe.
My full recommendation: https://librariansquest.blogspot.com/...
September 24, 2020
This book is out of this world! From the concept to the rhyming text to the non-fiction information to the illustration, I am in love. Photos don't do it justice--you must hold this book in your hands yourself to really appreciate the beauty of this board book about our beautiful planet. Sue Lowell Gallion's story is told in perfect, rollicking rhyme for even the very young to enjoy, but also includes more in-depth information about Earth's geography that inquisitive children, care givers, and educators will love. List Feng's illustrations are just beautiful. And if all of that wasn't enough, this book's shape and design really take this book to a whole new level. A book about our world that opens into a globe shape? Really?! Like I said, out of this world!
October 19, 2020
This is a beautifully illustrated, brilliantly worded introduction to geography for children.
April 10, 2022
I love this book and the cleverness of the whole book opening up to actually form a globe shape.
April 13, 2023
A cute introduction to geography in a fun presentation.
May 25, 2023
The coolest looking globe you have ever seen! It’s illustrations are quite captivating and are paired with chunks of information to make for an engaging reading experience!
Read
September 18, 2023Simple rhymes and in a carousel book format! What's not to love
Want to Read
March 29, 2020Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews