Making The World [Hardcover]

Douglas Wood (Author), Yoshi (Illustrator)

Book Description

Reveals the secret of how our unfinished world is being made complete by everyone who lives in it, including the reader.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A vision of cosmic interconnectedness starts off strong but gets a bit overdone in this message-driven picture book. "The world isn't finished yet," runs Wood's (Old Turtle) leitmotif, declared on the first page. "It's still being made." A breeze, for example, makes ripples and waves on the water, which wears down sand and pebbles, "and the world is changed." Yoshi (The First Story Ever Told), who was inspired here by her daughter, Hibiki Miyazaki, follows Wood's scene-changes with naturalistic, mostly full-spread watercolors: she shows a boy playing at a New England seashore; an antelope darting across the African savannah; a hilly Andean terrain crisscrossed by farms and trod by burros. Each setting is teeming with numerous elements (e.g., for the savannah, there is also an ancient baobab tree, bushbabies, baboons, various species of birds, etc.), each enumerated by the text and credited with "help[ing] to make the world." Meanwhile, "you" (an African girl reclining in the shade of a tree; a Japanese child looking at her reflection in a pool of koi; etc.) "help to make the world, too." But there are so many significant words on the page, paired with the often busy illustrations, that readers may have trouble keeping up. The simplest scenes are most successful, especially the last, which returns to the seashore to depict the moon gleaming over the bay, lighthouse and beach house, accompanied by one simple, poignant line of type. Ages 3-7.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2?This picture book explores the variety and beauty of nature and the impact that every living thing makes on the Earth. Lyrical text and full-page watercolor illustrations wrap readers in a view of a planet that is always changing: "Everywhere you look/and everywhere you listen,/someone or something/is helping/to make the world." A boy on the North American coastline experiences transformations at the beach as the morning breeze causes waves that alter the shoreline and a wildflower gives a butterfly "a sweet sip of nectar." As the child enjoys nature's beauty, he, too, helps to make the world. From this setting the story moves around the globe to the African plains where another child observes the plants and animals native to that region, and then it's onward to similar scenes in Asia and South America. As the story comes full circle, nighttime arrives in North America and the boy is tucked into bed. The illustrations are realistic with impressionist overtones that successfully reflect the mood of the text, creating a soft and gentle presentation that broadens a young child's awareness of our planet, its beauty, and everyone's ability to affect change.?Diane Nunn, Richard E. Byrd Elementary School, Glen Rock, NJ
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689813589
• ISBN-13: 978-0689813580
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 10 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,385,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, Enspiring, October 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Making The World (Hardcover)

Making The World is a beautifully written book. It begins by telling you a secret that you must promise to tell someone. "The world isn't finished yet, it isn't quite complete." The pictures beautifully portray many aspects of the natural world around us. It reads like a ballad, or a lullaby, rather than a story-book. Making The World is inspiring; it tells the reader that they too are helping to make the world. By "making and castle, humming a secrete song, laughing at the rain, dreaming of home, and saying I love you" you too are helping to make the world. The message in this book is so pure and simple. Yet, the moral of this book is sadly forgotten in the swift passed life we all live. We must all take time to enjoy the world around us, slow down and admire nature. We should feel thankful. We should keep dreaming, and enjoying the world around us. We must take time to say I love you, and be happy. This book has the potential for being a tool in helping children to find a cause to help "make the world". This book has helped me through some pretty tough times. It has helped me to a take a breath, relax and think. I too am helping to make the world. My attitude and ways I touch people each day, help to make and shape the worlds of the people around me. When I think in this way, anything is possible.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous book., November 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Making The World (Hardcover)

This book is utterly beautiful, so stirring. Each time we read it, it gets us pondering aloud together about how the world is, things we wonder, things we've noticed, how we are seeing life, and he tells me about how he would like his life to be. It is a stirring book, and perfect for going on then to dream about life's magic.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Non-Theistic Spirituality, July 24, 2001

By 

North Austin Mom (Austin, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making The World (Hardcover)

"Making the World" illustrates the profoundly spiritual connection between all creatures and their living earth, in a refreshingly non-theistic manner. It speaks poetically to children and adults about the interconnection of all things, reminding us of the effects of and our responsibility for the ripples we send into the world around us. With its beautiful words, images and illustrations, this book is deeply touching for all ages, regardless of spiritual beliefs.