The World and Everything in It

by Kevin Henkes (Author) Kevin Henkes (Illustrator)

The World and Everything in It
Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

The World and Everything in It belongs in every child’s library, and illuminates key social and emotional concepts such as belonging, self-awareness, and community. A wonderful gift for young children.

In the world, there are little animals, tiny flowers, and things so small you can’t see them. In the world, there are giant waves, a large sun, and things so big you can’t wrap your hands around them. There are big things and little things in the world. And everything in between—including you!

A brilliant picture book to spend time with, discuss, read aloud, and think about, The World and Everything in It is an excellent choice for social and emotional development as well as a lovely book to give to readers of any age.

Select format:
Hardcover
$19.99

Kirkus

A contemplative picture book to help young readers understand the reality of their world.

ALA/Booklist

With an unerring understanding of the child's perspective, Henkes presents simple comparisons, demonstrating how all the people and parts of the world are significant to the whole...

Publishers Weekly

Serene reflectiveness flows through this meditation by Henkes (Little Houses), whose simple prose initially segments the universe into two camps: "big things and little things." An early spread shows both: a grown, gnarled tree is pictured against billowing clouds on a grassy rise; a seedling grows beside it. In subsequent pages, framed spreads display diminutive entities: "Little animals.// Tiny flowers.// Pebbles.// Things so small you can't see them." Shown against backgrounds of white, they evoke the objective calm of encyclopedia illustrations. Next come the big things, including "The sea.// The sun.// The moon." Humans are in the middle, and able to interact with both, having "some of the little things"--spreads show children of various skin tones holding the items--and fragments of big things, too. "The moon is big, / but you can see all of it/ out the window in your bedroom." But how big is big? How small is small? "Most of the things are in-between," straightforward text concludes. "Like you./ And me." Spare images and text, and an almost reverent stream of thought, helps illuminate humans' comparative scale in the wide, variously populated world. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes



Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780063245648
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Greenwillow Books
Publication date
March 28, 2023
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039050 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emotions & Feelings
JUV051000 - Juvenile Fiction | Imagination & Play
JUV039090 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | New Experience
JUV009060 - Juvenile Fiction | Concepts | Size & Shape
JUV029010 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | Environment
Library of Congress categories
Picture books
Size

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