OUR BEAUTIFUL EARTH

Residents from the fictional planet Globux tell of how their planet was ruined—and warn people living on Earth to beware a similar plight.

Short sentences throughout are set in black, seemingly hand-printed capital letters against what look like strips of white paper. Each verso is backgrounded plainly in a solid color, while art on each recto is detailed, colorful, and apparently computer-generated. The quasi-biblical opening accompanies a small, white-marbled ball in a dark sky: “In the beginning, on the planet Globux, there was only a small pile of rocks.” The next two double-page spreads offer more of the Creation story, with the advent of water, plants, animals, and, finally, humans. The small, detailed drawings fill up appropriately. After this, every spread details the many ways that people on the planet used and abused resources, with a recurring concluding litany: “…and a bit of earth disappeared.” Apparently “earth” is used for soil, but readers might find it odd that the word “Globux” was not used instead. Changes in the plethora of animals, plants, and human creations are unbearably subtle in the first few pages, and then there is sudden, dark nothingness, followed by the aforementioned warning to earthlings. As the destruction worsens, the palette darkens and the strips of text both grow smaller and crowd to the bottom of the page. Although the illustrations will entertain children, the text—at first dark and then didactic—is unlikely to appeal. The overall effect is of apocalypse rather than hope.

This is not a stellar choice for encouraging children to care for their planet.