We Go Way Back: A Book about Life on Earth and How It All Began

Gr 1-4--From the author of Do Not Lick This Book comes an answer to the question, "What is life?" Illustrations and text work together masterfully to bring the concept of life and how it began to a young audience. Children ask big questions about their existence and this title does an excellent job of breaking the beginning of life on Earth into easy-to-understand pieces. Several wordless spreads show the slow development and increasing complexity of life. Ending with a dramatic gatefold that captures the diversity of life on Earth branching out from a very cute and shiny single-celled organism, this title will be enjoyed by a wide audience of casual browsers as well as science classes looking for clear and engaging answers to very large questions. VERDICT This title will be a welcome addition to collections where smartly delivered complex science is appreciated.--John Scott

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

In casual, erudite prose, Ben-Barak (There's a Skeleton Inside You!) explains what is known about how life began. "What is life?" he starts. "You have it.... A starfish has it.... A car doesn't have it." A spiraling line of type provides a simple, memorable formulation: "Life Is the Way That Some Things Make More Things That Are a Lot Like Themselves but Sometimes a Little Bit Different. Sort of." Relaying where life came from, the pages go "way back" to a young world of exploding volcanoes, flowing water, and striking lightning. Though it's not known where or exactly how, lines clarify, elements became molecules, and molecules joined to make small bubbles. Eventually, one "very clever little bubble" was able to produce more bubbles "That Were a Lot Like Itself but Sometimes a Little Bit Different." From there, the process complexifies for "literally billions of years," eventually reaching the present panoply of life on Earth, shown in a family tree so large it sprawls across a gatefold spread. Bunting (Your Planet Needs You) illustrates with punchy, sign-like images that take on visual complexity as the story rolls forward. It's an engaging, lucidly written volume that's refreshingly open about the parts of the sequence that remain unknown. Ages 4-8. (Feb.)

Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

*Three starred reviews!

★ "Punchy, sign-like images take on visual complexity as the story rolls forward. An engaging, lucidly written volume." - Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "In a concise yet pithy, playful, and deeply insightful storyline, Ben-Barak and Bunting begin by pointing out that despite diverse looks and likes, we all have one thing in common: life. And what is that? Sneakily cerebral for all its apparent simplicity." - Kirkus, starred review

★ "An impressively produced, thought-provoking, scientifically precise, and accessible explanation of the origins of life and evolution across Earth's history." - Horn Book Magazine, starred review

"This title will be a welcome addition to collections where smartly delivered complex science is appreciated." - SLJ

"Accessible, playful, [and] conversational. Easily lends itself to a science-based storytime." - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books