Touch the Earth (White Feather Flier Adventure #1)

by Julian Lennon (Author) Smiljana Coh (Illustrator)

Touch the Earth (White Feather Flier Adventure #1)

A New York Times bestseller that TODAY calls "beautiful" and "stunning!" Boys and girls can take to the air and learn how precious the Earth and her natural resources are. This interactive book immerses children in a fun and unique journey.

Jump aboard the White Feather Flier, a magical plane that can go wherever you want!Just press a button printed on the page, and point the plane up in the air to fly, or down to land it!

- Fly to the top of a mountain!

- Send clean water to thirsty people!

- Dive deep into the ocean (the Flier turns into a submarine!) to pick up pollution and bring back the fish!

- Explore the planet, meet new people, and help make the world a better place!

The Flier's mission is to transport readers around the world, to engage them in helping to save the environment, and to teach one and all to love our planet. An inspiring, lyrical story, rooted in Lennon's life and work, Touch the Earth is filled with beautiful illustrations that bring the faraway world closer to young children. The book includes words to a special poem written by Julian Lennon, specifically for Touch the Earth.

The first book of a bestselling trilogy that includes Heal the Earth and Love the Earth. A portion of the proceeds from book sales will go to support the environmental and humanitarian efforts of the White Feather Foundation, the global environmental and humanitarian organization that Lennon founded to promote education, health, conservation, and the protection of indigenous culture.

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Publishers Weekly

Lennon's debut picture book, the first in a planned trilogy, asks readers to hop aboard a magical airplane, the White Feather Flier (a name inspired by his father and his own environmental and humanitarian foundation), and go on a "helping adventure" to protect the planet's oceans and water supply. The tactile theme of the title is a tip-off to the authors' narrative approach: readers are asked to tilt the book as if operating the plane's steering wheel ("Point the book south to swoop down low for a closer look"), and most spreads include a "button," a silvery circle, intended to help readers pretend they're part of the action ("Push the water button to help irrigate the desert"). It will probably be too quaint for older children, especially when coupled with the earnest, lightly pedantic text ("Fish are beautiful and important for so many people"), but members of the lap-sitting set should be intrigued. Coh's (The Seven Princesses) drawings aren't particularly distinctive, but they have a sweet-natured directness that may light up younger eyes. Ages 3-6. Authors' agents: Robert Gottlieb and Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Trident Media Group. Illustrator's agency: Bright Agency. (Apr.)

Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2--Follow the White Feather Flier around the globe to discover places that need help with access to water. This adventure is designed to help readers "touch the earth" by learning how to take care of it. The story includes a place where people need water to drink, a deep ocean that needs to be cleaned so that fish will return, a parched desert, and a town that needs its water filtered so people can drink it. With soft, colorful illustrations and simple language, this work is attractive, but the heavy message about the importance of keeping water clean and accessible is not presented effectively. The tale is interactive, in the vein of Herve Tullet's Press Here and Bill Cotter's Don't Push the Button!, but the interactions are shallow. For example, touching a button labeled "FISH" results in fish returning to a previously polluted ocean, but there is nothing valuable in the text that would allow children to practice the book's message in their own neighborhoods. This same level of oversimplification prevails throughout. The regions without access to clean water are places that are populated by people of color and are overseas, which implies that this is a problem found only in certain parts of the world, even though this is a global crisis that affects all races. VERDICT This title fills a need for materials about environmental issues aimed at the kindergarten set, but it's a pass for most collections.--Paige Garrison, The Davis Academy, Sandy Springs, GA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

I've always admired Julian Lennon's singing, because for all he has seen of the world, his melodies contain such childlike wonder... his words too. Buy this book, and his words turn into actions. -Bono 

It's rare to find a beautiful book that speaks directly to kids, in both a playful and thoughtful way, about something as important as caring for our planet and all of its inhabitants. Touch The Earth combines this magic with true hand-to-page interactivity deftly woven into the narrative (and illustrations), creating a story I believe both kids and adults will want to read over and over again. -Laurie Berkner 

When a book takes you on an adventure, it's a good thing and allows you to think about something in a new way. When a book also reminds us how to treat what we have, it's even better because it's a win win. That's exactly what Julian has done with his book... he's given us a Win Win. - Whoopi Goldberg 

The first in Julian Lennon's White Feather Flier Adventure trilogy, Touch the Earth takes readers on a journey in a magical plane that allows them to send clean water to the thirsty, clean oceans of pollution, and 'make the world a better place.' - New York Magazine

[Touch the Earth] is a fun book AND it's an educational one as well.... The book helps teach kids a wonderful lesson for Earth Day and every day beyond. - Peanut Butter and Whine

The artwork is beautiful... It really is stunning. - TODAY

I was immediately impressed with the interactive nature of the book. Although not all books lend themselves to this style, books that include elements of interactivity help resonate with kids more so when there's a lesson to be learned. Some books ask questions of kids, and some books, like this one, encourage kids to touch the picture, lean into the story, and really feel like they're in the book. - Motherhood Moment

A very timely book.... A children's book, if done well, and this one is, lives on and on. - Al Roker 

A passion project that comes from the heart, this stunningly illustrated book is inspired by the white feather he was given by his father when he was young. -Mom and More

*****

Praise for Skyhorse Publihsing

My first series became a New York Times bestselling children's series, and that would have never happened without Skyhorse. . . . It's a great feeling, having them at my side. - Mark Cheverton, New York Times bestselling childrens author 

I now believe the best word to describe me as an author is spoiled. That's because the folks at Sky Pony have truly made me feel special about being in their stable. My editor is top-notch, and has a unique way of making me feel like her most important author. - Nancy Krulik, New York Times bestselling children's author

Julian Lennon
Julian Lennon is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, photographer, documentarian, philanthropist, and New York Times bestselling author of Touch the Earth. Born in Liverpool, England, Lennon is an observer of life in all its forms developing his personal expression through his artistic endeavors. In 2007, Lennon founded the global environmental and humanitarian organization The White Feather Foundation, whose key initiatives are education, health, conservation, and the protection of indigenous culture.

Bart Davis is an international bestselling author of novels and nonfiction books. His most recent is Black and White: The Way I See It, the biography of Richard Williams, father of tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams. He has also written two feature films and, with co-author Julian Lennon, the New York Times bestselling children's book Touch the Earth. Davis lives in New York City.

Smiljana Coh is an artist who studied film animation and combines traditional and digital illustration techniques in her work. She illustrated the New York Times bestselling Touch the Earth and I Want to Be a Ballerina, and wrote and illustrated The Seven Princesses. She lives in Croatia.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781510720831
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Sky Pony
Publication date
April 20, 2017
Series
White Feather Flier Adventure
BISAC categories
JUV029010 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | Environment
JUV063000 - Juvenile Fiction | Recycling & Green Living
Library of Congress categories
Environmentalism

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