How on Earth?: A Question-and-Answer Book About How Our Planet Works

Ray Doiron is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education at the
University of Prince Edward Island and the Preschool to Grade 6
nonfiction reviews co-ordinator at Resource Links.

This well-written, beautifully designed, multi-purpose book—a
follow-up to the author’s successful How on Earth?: A
Question-and-Answer Book About How Animals and Plants Live—is
informative and a pleasure to read.

The book is divided into three sections: Our Planet, Life on Earth, and
Helping the Earth. It begins with a list of authoritative sources from
which the author compiled accurate and interesting answers to a series
of questions. The questions (“What did the early Earth look like?”,
“Where did life on Earth begin?”, “How can I stop using up the
world?”, and so on) are answered in bold type in one or two sentences.
This brief answer is followed by a longer one for the reader who wants a
more detailed explanation. Each section has an extra question with an
answer that is cross-referenced to another page in the book—an added
feature that many young readers will enjoy. The language used to answer
the questions is clear, intelligent, and stimulating. The full-color
photographs, line drawings, timelines, diagrams, and color illustrations
support the text well and are laid out in attractive and engaging ways,
making this book not only appealing for browsing, but also an
interesting cover-to-cover read. Add to this a glossary, a
further-reading list, and a detailed index, and the reader has a
valuable resource.

How on Earth? will be popular in school and public libraries, a useful
support for science projects, and a wonderful gift for young scientists
with inquisitive minds. Highly recommended.