The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth: Understanding Our World and Its Ecosystems

I love Rachel Ignotofsky's books and this is no exception. Her books feature fantastic, detailed, diverse illustrations that are detailed but also at times whimsical and fun. Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth itself strikes a great balance between information-dense descriptions of geographical systems and plant and animal biology, and simpler explorations of these concepts. The result is that you can introduce young children to these concepts using basic terms and examples and let them visualize the ideas through the artwork, while older children will benefit from the more extensive narratives. Highly recommend.

This is a delightful and easy to understand book that is well organized and presents the most important elements of ecology. It describes many ecosystems, their importance and how human activity is altering and even threatening their existence. It covers concepts like succession, various cycles in nature (water, oxygen, carbon, etc.), interactions between species and between species and their environments. Diagrams, illustrations, and a glossary are nice additions to the well-written text. This would be appropriate for middle and high school (as well as some advanced grade schoolers). I also think many adults would alsoenjoy this book and learn quite a bit about ecology and its importance to our lives. Very engaging and a fun read!

I have included a picture of the table of contents to show what ecosystems are listed. Likes: Biome map introduction Biome map of each continent A picture of the living things and how they interact in the ecosystem Highlights one animal from each ecosystem Highlights the biggest benefits Highlights the greatest threat Some interesting facts related to the ecosystem Glossary terms How we can help Pictures are beautiful Talks about cycles of nature Cons: More like just a snapshot Not a ton of detail for many animals If you are conservative it does mention Big Bang theory and millions of years Some of the pictures with cycles can be slightly hard to follow for younger ones Overall I do like this book. I initially got it hoping it would be fun for the drawings for my third grader who loves to draw. I think the text is easy enough for her to possibly read on her own. We are homeschoolers and going through the ecosystems right now And like that this is concise enough to give her the general idea without overwhelming her. If your children are older and need more information for reports and assignments then I would likely recommend getting another type of book. This is more like snapshot of the ecosystems but is nice how it sorts all of them by continents.

This book is just perfect. It’s beautifully illustrated and engaging, the lay out of the information is clear and easy to follow. They could not have done a better job on this book. We’ll be using it in our homeschool lessons for many years. Highly recommend adding this book to your home library!

Love, love this book. Bought this because we homeschool and have only used it a handful of times so far, was maybe more for me than the children... A lot of reading if you're kid is in elementary, but as a teacher or guide book for that age, it's awesome. Even if we didn't homeschool, I think I'd still have it sitting out to look through!

Great and interesting read for kids

This is such a great resource for all ages when it comes to learning about our world. It has great information and illustrations!

This book is absolutely beautiful! It has an amazing amount of information in it, and all is beautifully illustrated. Broken down into sections, each section begins with a map of each of the continents showing their respective biomes. Then several of the biomes for the continent are shown in more detail each with a two-page spread, first with an illustration of the basic food chain flora and fauna, then a description of the ecosystem and its inhabitants. Each ecosystem also includes its biggest benefit to the earth and the greatest threat its continued existence. But the book also includes so much more! From describing the flow of energy in ecosystems, what healthy ecosystems look like, the different cycles the make up our amazing earth - such as the water cycle, carbon cycle, phosphorus cycle - it even includes an illustrated gloassary. This book has so much, and I highly recommend it!

This book is a treasure. Its rich contents and artwork make for an engaging and informative read. Purchased for my 6 yo, however, I regularly find myself sifting through its pages. The content is very well organized and walks the reader through different ecosystems and natural cycle systems (water, nitrogen etc.).

Imagine a book which provides categorically organized information on all habitats , that is beautifully illustrated, terms immaculately explained so that it becomes easily absorbable by tiny tots, THIS IS SUCH A MUST HAVE BOOK. It provides all bite size to chomp size info in a very systematic manner with a special illustration for each habitat showing its various inhabitants and trophic levels ( my kid taught me what it is from the book). It is one of the best books I have seen on the subject with an important message for Wildlife Conservation .

Ha tardado un poco en llegar pero la espera a merecido la pena. Excelente libro.

I love Rachel's work and have for a while and this latest book is no exception. The Wonderous Workings of Planet Earth is beautifully illustrated and incredibly informative. This is an excellent read for teens, young adults, and adults! Most importantly it is an amazing tool for younger generations to gain a basic understanding of the fact that serious changes need to happen now if we, as humans, are going to continue to enjoy the beauty of the nature around us and the resources provided by the planet without continuing the destruction caused in large part by older, uninformed generations. This topic is approached in the book through an ecological standpoint but also an economic perspective, stating that carelessness toward nature is not the only problem, but that turning a blind eye to poverty also contributes to the large scale problems we are all facing. There are so many important issues threatening humanity and society, but if the planet is destroyed, none of that will really matter. This book is a powerful piece in the fight for all living things.

great book