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    Our Home, Our Only Home

    Part of Wondrous World

    Author Marion Dane Bauer
    Illustrated by Sophie Diao
    Look inside
    Hardcover
    $18.99 US
    Candlewick
    10.7"W x 12.13"H x 0.39"D   | 20 oz | 24 per carton
    On sale Mar 24, 2026 | 40 Pages | 9781536234039
    Age 4-8 years | Preschool - 3
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    In a sweeping poetic achievement—and a clarion call to action—Newbery Honoree Marion Dane Bauer reckons with humankind's responsibility for the climate crisis, tracing a storyline from ice age to industrial age.

    Born without fangs, claws, or wings, naked of fur or feathers, humans are the most vulnerable of Earth’s creatures. Our strength rests in our knowing. Early on, we put our big brains to work to tame fire, and over eons, our discovery helped us grow. Just two centuries ago, we began using coal, oil, and gas—remnants of long-ago life hidden deep within a generous Earth—to fuel fire, light up our nights, and run machines. Fertilizers let us reuse the soil. Pesticides killed the competition. We even dreamed up a synthetic “wonder” material called plastic. But our big brains tuned out the devastating effects of these actions. Can our knowing unravel the greatest crisis we’ll ever face? Stunning artwork evokes the climate emergency to scale in a third epic fusion of poetry and science from the author of We, the Curious Ones and The Stuff of Stars. Packed with hopeful action points, this portrait of a planet in peril is a plea to reconnect with our home, the source of all life, and a rallying cry for a generation coming of age just in time to turn things around.
    A necessary and optimistic call to action.
    —Kirkus Reviews

    Insistent verse by Bauer urges care for Earth as confident artwork from Diao emphasizes the planet’s fragility in this bracing picture book wake-up call.
    —Publishers Weekly

    Diao illustrates her earnest message with lyrical images of Earth against starry backdrops, human figures from various eras, polluted landscapes, people and animals on the march, and tellingly, of our planet as a clockface with the hand pointed nearly straight up.
    —Booklist

    Lyrical and sweeping poetry coupled with vivid artwork make this a worthy addition to the shelves of conservation books and a strong Earth Day pick in classrooms.
    —School Library Journal (starred review)
    Marion Dane Bauer is an award-winning author of more than one hundred books for young people, including We, the Curious Ones, illustrated by the husband-and-wife artist duo Hari and Deepti; The Stuff of Stars, illustrated by Ekua Holmes; and the Newbery Honor Book On My Honor. A former faculty member of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults, she now writes full-time. Marion Dane Bauer lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

    Sophie Diao is the author-illustrator of Tiny Troubles: Nelli’s Purpose and the illustrator of From Park to Playa: The Trails That Connect Us by Nell Cross Beckerman, I Am Golden by Eva Chen, Sarah and the Big Wave: The True Story of the First Woman to Surf Mavericks by Bonnie Tsui, and other acclaimed picture books. She lives in Oakland, California.
    Marion Dane Bauer View titles by Marion Dane Bauer
    Sophie Diao View titles by Sophie Diao

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    About

    In a sweeping poetic achievement—and a clarion call to action—Newbery Honoree Marion Dane Bauer reckons with humankind's responsibility for the climate crisis, tracing a storyline from ice age to industrial age.

    Born without fangs, claws, or wings, naked of fur or feathers, humans are the most vulnerable of Earth’s creatures. Our strength rests in our knowing. Early on, we put our big brains to work to tame fire, and over eons, our discovery helped us grow. Just two centuries ago, we began using coal, oil, and gas—remnants of long-ago life hidden deep within a generous Earth—to fuel fire, light up our nights, and run machines. Fertilizers let us reuse the soil. Pesticides killed the competition. We even dreamed up a synthetic “wonder” material called plastic. But our big brains tuned out the devastating effects of these actions. Can our knowing unravel the greatest crisis we’ll ever face? Stunning artwork evokes the climate emergency to scale in a third epic fusion of poetry and science from the author of We, the Curious Ones and The Stuff of Stars. Packed with hopeful action points, this portrait of a planet in peril is a plea to reconnect with our home, the source of all life, and a rallying cry for a generation coming of age just in time to turn things around.

    Praise

    A necessary and optimistic call to action.
    —Kirkus Reviews

    Insistent verse by Bauer urges care for Earth as confident artwork from Diao emphasizes the planet’s fragility in this bracing picture book wake-up call.
    —Publishers Weekly

    Diao illustrates her earnest message with lyrical images of Earth against starry backdrops, human figures from various eras, polluted landscapes, people and animals on the march, and tellingly, of our planet as a clockface with the hand pointed nearly straight up.
    —Booklist

    Lyrical and sweeping poetry coupled with vivid artwork make this a worthy addition to the shelves of conservation books and a strong Earth Day pick in classrooms.
    —School Library Journal (starred review)

    Author

    Marion Dane Bauer is an award-winning author of more than one hundred books for young people, including We, the Curious Ones, illustrated by the husband-and-wife artist duo Hari and Deepti; The Stuff of Stars, illustrated by Ekua Holmes; and the Newbery Honor Book On My Honor. A former faculty member of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults, she now writes full-time. Marion Dane Bauer lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

    Sophie Diao is the author-illustrator of Tiny Troubles: Nelli’s Purpose and the illustrator of From Park to Playa: The Trails That Connect Us by Nell Cross Beckerman, I Am Golden by Eva Chen, Sarah and the Big Wave: The True Story of the First Woman to Surf Mavericks by Bonnie Tsui, and other acclaimed picture books. She lives in Oakland, California.
    Marion Dane Bauer View titles by Marion Dane Bauer
    Sophie Diao View titles by Sophie Diao

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