The Whole Wide World and Me

by Toni Yuly, Toni Yuly (Illustrator)

Overview

A bold, joyful picture book for the very young shows that the natural world is full of wonders — and each of us is a small part of that.

Like a flower in a field . . .
Like a cloud in the sky . . .
So am I.

Just as a pebble is part of a mountain, just as a wave is part of the sea, so, too, is every one of us part of something bigger. With bright collage illustrations and a simple, lyrical text, acclaimed author-illustrator Toni Yuly invites readers to celebrate our relationship to the natural world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763692636
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	02/19/2019
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	620,697
Product dimensions:	8.25(w) x 10.95(h) x 0.37(d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Toni Yuly is the creator of the picture books Thank You, Bees; The Jelly Bean Tree; Cat Nap; Night Owl; and Early Bird. After many years as a librarian, she now dedicates herself to designing, painting, and writing all day. She lives in Bremerton, Washington.

Editorial Reviews

Eye-catching, perspective-shifting illustrations pair beautifully with simple text to embrace a child's world...Bold colors frame but do not overtake the gentle story, and the composition of each spread deserves close attention—Yuly carefully balances white space and color and zooms out from macro focus to wide angle to demonstrate scale and perspective. A story that ends as it begins—colorful, peaceful, and just right for the very youngest naturalists.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

From the Publisher

02/01/2019

PreS-K—In a simple poem of appreciation, a young girl feels at one with nature ("I am a small part of it all."). Striking illustrations—created with pencil, ink, torn tissue, and cut paper—are rendered in brilliant colors of red, blue, purple, green, and a pop of yellow. Metaphors and similes are used as the girl compares herself to a flower, a fish, and a wave while spending a day outside admiring her surroundings. Sitting in a tree looking at a white cloud in the blue sky, splashing in the sea while a whale swims offshore, and gently playing with a red ladybug with black polka-dots, the child appears to cherish her world and her fellow creatures. A large font is used and placed on double-spread pictures, allowing the book to serve as a beginning reader as well as the impetus to a discussion of our place in our world. VERDICT A fine addition to preschool classrooms, perfect for storytime.—Maryann H. Owen, Oak Creek Public Library WI

School Library Journal

★ 2018-12-05

Eye-catching, perspective-shifting illustrations pair beautifully with simple text to embrace a child's world.

Spare, poetic text offers a steady rhythm that builds from a small flower to a fish, from a cloud to a child, as the story slowly widens its view to encompass the natural world. A young, black-haired, light-skinned girl who presents Asian explores the land, sea, and sky around her, from the smallest bug to the biggest wave. Unafraid, she instead feels connected and reflects: "I am a small part of it all," embodying curiosity and wonder. Sprawled at the bottom of a hillside, she says, "I'm a pebble that rolls down a mountain," as a pebble plummets down a mountain peak in the background. Her unbridled joy at interacting with the natural world is infectious, and readers won't be able to keep their own smiles hidden for long. Collage artwork features ink, charcoal pencil, torn tissue, and cut paper for bright, patterned textures to discover. Bold colors frame but do not overtake the gentle story, and the composition of each spread deserves close attention—Yuly carefully balances white space and color and zooms out from macro focus to wide angle to demonstrate scale and perspective.

A story that ends as it begins—colorful, peaceful, and just right for the youngest naturalists. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews