Wonderful Earth!

By: Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen

Age: KS2

A great picture book for KS2, as it draws upon more advanced topics and combines this with interesting illustrations. There are opportunities for class interaction with flaps and pop-ups, children can manipulate images and create their own animals (e.g. play God). I had this book as a child and vividly remember the excitement of being involved (e.g. lifting flaps) and turning the page to find the lion head.

There is a strong message provided through the book, that we need to look after the planet for future generations. This could be explored with children, discussing how we can protect the planet and what we can do for the environment.

This book could also be used with design and technology, as children could look at how the flaps and pop-ups are created, then use these in their own work, such as creating a Christmas card.

Themes:

Religion and Creation - links to Christian creation story

Environment - pollution, protecting the planet

Weather - climate change

Animals - adaptations and variance

Growth