One World: 24 Hours on Planet Earth

One World: 24 Hours on Planet Earth is a children’s book all about the environment and climate change. The story follows two small children just before midnight on the 21st of April as they travel the world to different countries and time zones and see what is happening to the animals in that place at that time.Beginning in Svalbard, Artic Circle at 1 am we meet a mother polar bear and her two cubs who are looking for seals to eat. The message here is about the ice melting. We then move onto Luangwa Valley, California where a baby elephant has just been born and is protected from the lions by her family and poacher by the rangers.At the beginning of the book, the author explains to the reader how the earth is split into 24 segments, like an orange. Each segment represents an hour and each hour is different in different places. I did expect the book to follow this 24-hour pattern especially as the first two places the children visit are at 1 am and 2 am, however, the book then jumps to 5.30 am and it does this numerous times. This did disappoint a little as I expect it to follow with 3 am, 4 am, etc., just to have some consistency for children. We only get to visit 12 places so that is 12 time zones.The illustrations are amazing and full page and the information provided is basic but is enough to whet children’s appetite about climate change and there are some basic actions at the back which the author says can help in the fight.Overall, a good starter book for children about the world, animals, and what is happening to them because of climate change, plastic waste, pollution, poachers, etc.*I received a free copy of this book, which I voluntarily reviewed

Review of paperback:This is an interesting picture book showing kids what is happening around the planet during one day. What is happening on the planet when it is midnight in the UK? In Svalbard a polar bear mother hunts for food, while elsewhere an elephant baby is born and kangaroos box. This paperback is bigger than A4 in size and is filled with thick pages of some really lovely illustrations and text.The book begins with a note to the reader about the different timezones on planet Earth before the story begins. Following two girls who wonder what is happening on planet Earth when it is midnight where they are, the two go on an adventure to see all the different wildlife that exists and what is happening at different times of the day in those different parts of the world. I like the idea of this book, showing the different animals and what they are doing. On each double page there is an image of some animals as well as information about where on the Earth and what hour it is there and also some more information on the animals there and some environmental facts too.While the idea of the book, showing all the different animals and wildlife that exists on the planet is a good one and one I would have loved looking at as a child to find out about what is happening at any one time, the book does have a heavy environmental message which did make the book feel like an important read, but also possibly for some children, quite a sad read too. On some pages, like the polar bears, the future of the bears is made clear that it's uncertain. On other pages there is information about how the environment is being destroyed or disappearing, and one of the final pages shows the two girls scared of the modern world (the world and city they live in) and its disasterous environmental impact. I do think that the message about how we need to do more for the planet is a good one to share with kids, and there is a mesage at the end of the story telling kids that we need to do something, but I couldn't help feel that the way it came across throughout the book was a little too dark, and left the book feeling more of a sad or depressing read than it should have been.The ilustrations are really fantastic and really bring to life the animals and creatures that you see. I love the way the two girls show up on each page, but sometimes you need to look around a little to really spot them hiding somewhere. Each illustrations brings the outside world to life and it's amazing how realistic so many of the animals look. The back of the book does have a bit more information about climate change and messages from the author and illustrator too.I do think this is a nice book to share with children especially if they understand the environmetal message that's being shown, and the fact the book mentions Earth Day at the end makes this a good book to show at such a time, however, I do think that without the input of an adult, the book's message might be more lost on some children and I do think that despite the dire situation the planet is in, the book could have had a more positive and uplifting feeling at the end than it does. Overall a good environmental read, but not quite the story I thought it would be.-Thanks to Walker Books for a free copy.