Oliver Jeffers’ New Picture Book Is Your Kid’s Guide to the World

It’s hard not to love award-winning author and illustrator Oliver Jeffers for his sweet and witty storybooks. It’s hard not to swoon over his beautiful illustrations. And if you’re a kid, it’s hard not to want another read…again.

As if there weren’t reasons enough to make Jeffers a big part of our child’s home library, here’s another:

Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth due for release November 14, 2017.

This first nonfiction release from Jeffers, meant to be a guide to the world, combines his signature artwork and storytelling talent with his fresh perspective as a dad.

“As we were walking around [my son] would look up, fascinated with things, and I started explaining things to him,” Jeffers told The Bookseller. “I wrote down notes and, before I knew it, I had basically written this set of guides for him.”

Inspired by a variety of political changes in the last years, Jeffers felt that he had a responsibility to his son:

"If all of these bizarre and terrible things are happening politically and nobody is speaking out about it, how can I justify not doing anything in years to come when my son asks me?”

“I thought to myself, ‘Hmm, if I don’t speak up, who will? And how can I tell my son that yes, I tried to play my part when everything was going seemingly belly-up, and spoke out about things that were absolutely wrong?’ I do think that silence in the face of injustice makes you complicit in some way,” he told Entertainment Weekly. 

If you’re concerned that the book will be too heavy for your child, don’t be. While unapologetically moralistic, Jeffers keeps the tone easy, playful, and even humorous at times. It starts of simply, introducing your child to his world…

Well, hello.
And welcome to this Planet.
We call it Earth.
Our world can be a bewildering place, especially if you’ve only just got here. Your head will be filled with questions, so let’s explore what makes our planet and how we live on it. From land and sky, to people and time, these notes can be your guide and start you on your journey. And you’ll figure lots of things out for yourself. Just remember to leave notes for everyone else… Some things about our planet are pretty complicated, but things can be simple, too: You’ve just got to be kind.

…And takes the time to cover a variety of subjects from our planet's terrain, our place in space, to finally arrive at a simple, universal message of kindness and tolerance on Earth. Who couldn’t use more of that?

So keep an eye out for Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth this November. It’s bound to be a new favorite.

What are some of your favorite children’s books on the world and your place in it?