One World: 24 Hours on Planet Earth

Davies and Desmond use time zones as the framing for a conservation-oriented tour of Earth in this eye-opening journey led by two kids, both portrayed with brown skin. The pair begin at nearly midnight in Greenwich, London, then head to Svalbard at 1 a.m., where they spot a polar bear mother and cubs: "Every year now the ice melts earlier, making hunting hard. The future of this little family is not certain." At 8 a.m., they swim among whale sharks in the Philippines, while a 4 p.m. stop at California's Pinnacles National Park finds them nestled in a red wildflower. On each page, text contrasts the beauty of the setting with the danger lurking from human-caused environmental damage. Lushly imagined mixed-media illustrations offer a birds-eye view, suggesting the vastness of the planet with documentary-style spreads of penguins dotting the snow far into the horizon or hundreds of baby sea turtles covering a moonlit beach. The suggestion that all this ecological magic exists at the same time buttresses the direct call to save the Earth. Creators' notes conclude. Ages 6-9. (Mar.)