'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Thursday 13 May 2021

Review: Wonder Earth. Exploring our Living Home.

This is a non fiction picture book that invites children to explore the world around them and to understand the wonders that surround us in the natural world.

Rather than being didactic, this is a celebration of the beauty of the planet around us.

The authors invite children to feel, to listen and to imagine. 

This is a collaboration between veteran author Zanni Louise and environmental educator and first time author, Tiff Bollhorn.

Louise, Bollhorn and illustrator Smith depict the sensory nature of the world and encourage readers to interact and to engage in a soft way that fosters respect and awe.


In this richly coloured book, a diverse range of children are portrayed examining the details that surround them.

On each page, children are interacting with plants, animals, birds and insects, frolicking in the rain, listening to the song of the planet and generally having fun in the outdoor world.

Glasgow-based illustrator, Sophy Louise Smith uses colours that manage to be both soft and vibrant, in pictures brimming with detail.


Overall, this is a book to read through slowly and to savour, to explore the details and to discuss.

The ultimate aim is for children to interact more deeply with their surrounds and to consider the depth and breadth of the ever-changing, growing and developing landscape that exists outside their doors.

Reviews of some other works by Zanni Louise can be found here and here.


Title: Wonder Earth: Exploring our Living Home.
Author: Zanni Lousie and Tiff Bollhorn
Illustrator: Sophy Louise Smith
Publisher: Five Mile Press, $24.99
Publication Date: 28th March 2021
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781922385529
For ages: 4+
Type: Picture Book