Thank You, World - Alice B. McGinty

Illustratror: Wendy Anderson Halperin
For: Young kids to old people (like me!)
Publshed: Oct. 2007
Rating: A Big 5
Endpapers: Eight squares with 8 globes, each showing one of the 8 different countries discussed in the book.

A NEW FAVORITE - at least for awhile, until another one comes along....

From the illustrator, written above an illustration of 9 crayons: "The art was created with a box of 120 Crayola crayons, 22 Crayola Twistables, and a box of 30 Swiss Neocolor I crayons by Caran d'ache on top of copies of pencil drawings." Now that, in itself, is pretty cool. The illustrations are really nice. Each two-page spread is divided into eight squares. Each square, from the endpaper onward, depicts the world from one child's point-of-view. Across the top row: square one is a child from the United States, square 2 is about a child in Mexico, 3 is Bolivia, 4 is France, Across the bottom row: The 1st square is Mali (in Africa), the 2nd is Saudi Arabia, the third is India, and tha last is China. So on every page you follow the "story" from their point-of-view in the same square.

The book itself is a lovely thank you, used as a framework to show the lives of these eight children from morning 'til night:

Thank you, sun, for waking up the morning......and coloring the sky. (Illustrations are from the countryside)
Thank you, sky, for shining bluethat calls me....to touch you, swinging high.
Thank you, swing. You shoot me like a rocket....past birds and grass and trees. (Illustrations are native birds)

And this is how it continues. In different native trees, out the windows of their very different homes, with their moms, and in their very different beds and bedrooms until: "And thank you, nighttime. Your soft gray shadows....will touch my dreams tonight.

I'm going to have to get this one for my babes in ME and PA. It's really special. When the kids are really young they'll enjoy the rhyme and rhythm. As they get older they'll enjoy watching each of the eight children progress through their day. Eight countries of our world to learn about!