“This is the Sun” by Elizabeth Everett

This is the Sun

Elizabeth Everett (author) Evellyn Andrya (illustrator)
Science, Naturally (2022)
ISBN: ? 978-1938492815
Reviewed by Tammy Ruggles for Reader Views (09/2022)

“This is the Sun” by Elizabeth Everett, illustrated by Evellyn Andrya, is a delightful and educational children’s book that puts the sun and the cycle of life in the spotlight. This author takes her experience as a teacher and parent, and weaves it into a story about science, nature, and how living things depend on one another and the sun to survive.

The infectious rhyming style will most assuredly appeal to young readers or listeners—so much so that it could easily become a classroom song for preschoolers to learn and sing, much like “Twelve Days of Christmas.” The repetition would not inform but educate young audiences about nature’s food change, from the sun to a tree, and later a spider, lizard, and on down to a fox and more.

Everett’s easy, breezy style is catchy, and the ideas and science are brought to life by Andrya’s colorful and calm color schemes. The creatures that are presented in their natural environment, coupled with their science-based, natural behaviors, will give little ones (and maybe big ones, since we oldsters sometimes take nature and the sun for granted!) facts about how nature works and how the sun plays one of the biggest roles in the circle-of-life concept. Even adults reading this book to children will get a much-needed, much-appreciated reminder of how dependent the whole natural world is on the sun and how it sustains us.

We learn how each creature depends on the other for survival. For example, we learn that the light feeds the tree, which feeds the flower it produces, which feeds a bug, which feeds a spider, and so on. This adorable book would be the perfect companion for parents and their young children on a nature walk together. They could talk about the life cycle, and how life itself—including human life—would be difficult if not impossible without the sun playing its part, since we humans rely on and consume what nature provides.

If you are looking for an irresistible book to give children as a gift, with an educational, meaningful flavor, definitely choose “This is the Sun” by Elizabeth Everett. A hardcover edition would be a treasure for any bookshelf.