Common Ground: The Water, Earth, and Air We Share [Hardcover]

Molly Bang (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

A simple story of our planet's natural resources with jewel-like paintings by Caldecott Honor author Molly Bang. Through the example of a shared village green and the growing needs of the townspeople who share it, Molly Bang presents the challenge of handling our planet's natural resources. Full color picture book.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-7. Bang's small picture book is both simple and ambitious as it presents first a parable and then a string of analogies to raise awareness and provoke thought about the consequences of overusing natural resources. The opening story tells how the green common of a long-ago village quickly becomes overcrowded when too many sheep are sent to graze. Some people decide to stay and work out a plan, but others leave for greener pastures. Bang's paintings employ strong patterns and shades of color, clustering small, crudely sketched figures in naive perspective as the author explains how people today resemble the villagers in using up what they have. "Now our commons are our parks, reserves, and natural resources, and the waters and air of the whole world." She depicts fishermen catching as many fish as possible; lumber companies cutting trees; other companies and individuals using oil and gas and coal; and notes that we all "pump as much of our common water as we can." In each instance there is a short-term benefit and a long-term problem. It's a somber lesson: "One by one, we are destroying the natural resources that sustain our lives." Some scenes suffer from crammed design elements, but others readily command attention. The concluding pronouncement that "now we don't have anyplace else to go" should effectively spark discussion, individual research, and classroom projects.?Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Conservation and responsibility for our shared natural resources is the heart of an allegory that inspires respect for the environment, described tidily in simple terms. Once upon a time, villagers could bring sheep to a commons, ``common ground'' to everyone in the village. The eventual outcome--too many sheep and not enough grass--provides the historical example that is invoked repeatedly to explain problems and issues arising from present-day overuse of life-sustaining resources and global short-sightedness. Bang (Goose, 1996, etc.) outlines the depletion of the seas, forests, fossil fuels, and water in a series of pithy but easily comprehensible vignettes. Each tenet of basic ecology presented spins on the same axis--the concept of one earth, with limitations as to its renewability; then Bang drives home the ``share the planet'' precept in a dramatic denouement. Happy greens (grass) and sprightly blues (water, sky) give way to gray rooftops and smokestacks throughout, but it is the lone planet swirling against a canvas of black that is sure to stop readers in their tracks. It's a timely, provocative message, housed in a small, weighty book. (Picture book. 7-10) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Blue Sky Press; Undertermined edition (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590100564
• ISBN-13: 978-0590100564
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,646 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Environment & Ecology
  • #20 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Nature > Environment
  • #28 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Health > Diseases

More About the Author

Molly Bang is an award winning children's book illustrator and author. Her
works include 3 Caldecott Honor Books: Ten, Nine, Eight, The Grey Lady and the
Strawberry Snatcher, and When Sophie Gets Angry - Really, Really Angry, which
also won a Jane Addams Honor Award and the Arbuthnot Award. The Paper Crane
won the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award in 1987; Goose won the School of Library
Journal Best Book of 1996 and another work, Common Ground: The Water, Earth,
and Air We Share, won the prestigious Giverny Book Award in 1998 for the best
children's science picture book. Her latest book, My Light, is an ALA Notable
book.

Her only work for adults is Picture This, which shows how an understanding of
the most basic principles enable a person to build powerful pictures. It is
used by art and graphic departments in colleges around the country.

Bang received her bachelor degree from Wellesley in French, and Masters in
Far Eastern Studies at the University of Arizona and at Harvard. She has also
worked as a reporter; as an educator for public health projects in Bangladesh
and in Mali, West Africa, incorporating information on maternal and child
health into stories; and as a teacher in colleges.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Common Ground, February 13, 2000

By 

Cynthia Colbert (Columbia,South Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Common Ground: The Water, Earth, and Air We Share (Hardcover)

This is a beautifully illustrated book that asks important questions without "talking down" to children. The text explores environmental issues beginning with the common-shared ground in many early settlements. Starting with the problem of townspeople feeding too many sheep on the commons, resulting in a scarcity of grass, Bang goes on to the forests, seas, air, and water. She does not offer solutions, but poses questions that are open-ended and invite discussion. I am an art professor and volunteer as an elementary art teacher. I plan to use this book during Earth Week to teach an illustration unit on environmental issues to third graders. Bang's use of multiple baselines in her representation of the common ground is delightful and creates another interesting avenue for discussion with children. I'm never disappointed with a Bang book. I've been a fan since The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher. Common Ground does not disappoint!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book asks: To whom do the earth's resources belong?, April 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Common Ground: The Water, Earth, and Air We Share (Hardcover)

A thought-provoking allegory--with vivid, jewel-like illustrations--based on biologist Garrett Hardin's classic biology article (Science, 1968), "The Tragedy of the Commons," this book raises important stewardship questions regarding the earth's flora, fauna, and natural resouces. It also deftly implies that the answer is embedded in the Tale of the Commons. Insightful illustrations use cut-away and distorted aerial perspectives to amplify the text, and to provoke readers to always consider "the bigger picture" when taking action. Indeed, this book teaches children a very important ecology lesson in a visually enticing way! It should also be noted that this book won the 1998 GIVERNY AWARD for Best Children's Science Picture Book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that every child should read., May 28, 2001

By 

Cheryl Hough (Fredericktown, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Common Ground: The Water, Earth, and Air We Share (Hardcover)

With increasing concern over the exploitation of resources and the fairness of the useage, it is important for every child (and adult) to understand that there is a limit to the natural resources. This book is an entertaining and easy reading experience as well as educational. I am using this book with a day camp, it is that good. It gives good coverage to social consequences of inept management of common resources, as well as social remedies in a very simple and fun format for children. The art work is exceptional.