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Every Breath We Take

A Book About Air

Author Maya Ajmera, Dominique Browning
Foreword by Julianne Moore
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Hardcover
$16.95 US
Charlesbridge
8.9"W x 9.8"H x 0.38"D   | 14 oz | 36 per carton
On sale Mar 08, 2016 | 32 Pages | 978-1-58089-616-0
Age 4-8 years | Preschool - 3
Reading Level: Lexile 640L | Fountas & Pinnell J
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Clean air is essential for all living creatures—plants, animals, and people—to live healthy lives. Every Breath We Take is a positive, life-affirming look at clean air, with a subtle message about how air can be dirtied—and how it can be cleaned up.
 
Photographs of beautiful children around the world exploring air through touch, smell, sound, and sight underscore the importance of clean air to all life on earth. This is science that surrounds us.

The first step to cherishing something is recognizing its importance and understanding why it is necessary.
 
A portion of the proceeds from the sales of this book will be donated to Moms Clean Air Force, a national movement of over a half million moms, dads, and grandparents who are protecting the right of every child to breathe clean air.
Sentences of large-print text and colorful stock photographs move from the ubiquity of air to pollution to fighting pollution.
After an upbeat foreword from actor Julianne Moore, who mentions, among other things, that "kids are smart," it is a let-down to realize that most of the pages that follow are generalized truisms about air that only the youngest children may not have grasped--that air goes out "when a baby screams"; that all creatures and all plants need air; that wind is moving air; that air carries sounds and smells. The book then amps up the complexity with the statement that "air looks and smells bad when it is dirty. That's called air pollution." Nevertheless, an older child might enjoy reading the book to a younger one and explaining such photographs as one with solar panels and another showing a child using an inhaler. Both text and photographs are winners in terms of gender equality, multiculturalism, and ethnic diversity. after the final comparison of clean air to love, there are two pages with a little more specific information, such as a simple explanation of air's composition and the cool fact that children take about twice as many breaths as adults. However, even here there are too many sentences reiterating the fact that clean air is important.
A prettily packaged bit of environmentalism for the youngest readers from a writing team of children's health advocates.
- Kirkus Reviews

Air: a fundamental source of life that people take for granted, even as they depend on it. By making air visible through plentiful illustrations and simple examples in the text, Ajmera and Browning remind readers to be responsible for this important resource. Each two-page spread describes a trait of air: it carries sound, it moves, it can be felt and seen. Photographs of people, plants, animals, and the planet visually support these traits, depicting faces and places that all readers will recognize and relate to. Air fills balloons, and bubbles, makes kites fly, blows an umbrella inside out, and turns windmills to create energy. The dangers of air pollution are described, as well as ways to prevent and repair the damage humans have caused. Blending simple science concepts about the nature of air with pictures that bring it all home, this book will inspire readers to take care of this crucial, wonderful, ubiquitous element. Explanatory panels at the end provide supplementary information in an FAQ format.
- Booklist

This book from the Moms Clean Air Force is a beautiful effort to inform and inspire children to care for the environment. The clear, brightly colored photographs feature a diverse cast of young children and animals engaging in outside activities, while the text explains the features and importance of clean air. The overall message is that every living organism on Earth needs clean air to survive. The straightforward sentences explain basic concepts about air, such as its ability to carry sound. Every child can relate to the narrative and photos, but adults can use the supplementary information at the back of the book to further inform children about the causes and effects of air pollution with suggestions to improve or prevent additional air damage. VERDICT This title serves as a solid introduction to young readers' study of basic human needs.
- School Library Journal
Maya Ajmera is the founder of The Global Fund for Children and the co-author of more than fifteen books, including To Be a Kid, Faith, Children from Australia to Zimbabwe, and the global education guide, Raising Children to Become Caring Contributors to the World.

She is the President and CEO of Society for Science & the Public (SSP) and Publisher of its award-winning magazine, Science News. Maya lives in Washington D.C. View titles by Maya Ajmera
Dominique Browning View titles by Dominique Browning
Foreword
            If I told you that everybody in the world shares ONE invisible thing that keeps us ALL alive, would you believe me?
            If I told you that THAT THING is inside of us, AND outside of us, at the SAME TIME, would you think I was crazy?
            Maybe. Or maybe you would know that I was talking about air.
            I think you would know that, because kids are smart. Kids are so smart that they sometimes know things before grown-ups do. Like how to take care of our planet and keep our air clean for all the people, animals, and plants to breathe.
            Sometimes grown-ups have not been so smart about keeping the air clean, and we need to work harder at that. Because the air is important for all of us, but especially for you kids. You are growing and learning and getting bigger every day.
            And so we need to make sure that there is plenty of clean air for all the kids, all over the world.
            We NEED to do that. Because we love you so much.
—Julianne Moore
Copyright © 2016 by Maya Ajmera (Author); Dominique Browning (Author). All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

About

Clean air is essential for all living creatures—plants, animals, and people—to live healthy lives. Every Breath We Take is a positive, life-affirming look at clean air, with a subtle message about how air can be dirtied—and how it can be cleaned up.
 
Photographs of beautiful children around the world exploring air through touch, smell, sound, and sight underscore the importance of clean air to all life on earth. This is science that surrounds us.

The first step to cherishing something is recognizing its importance and understanding why it is necessary.
 
A portion of the proceeds from the sales of this book will be donated to Moms Clean Air Force, a national movement of over a half million moms, dads, and grandparents who are protecting the right of every child to breathe clean air.

Praise

Sentences of large-print text and colorful stock photographs move from the ubiquity of air to pollution to fighting pollution.
After an upbeat foreword from actor Julianne Moore, who mentions, among other things, that "kids are smart," it is a let-down to realize that most of the pages that follow are generalized truisms about air that only the youngest children may not have grasped--that air goes out "when a baby screams"; that all creatures and all plants need air; that wind is moving air; that air carries sounds and smells. The book then amps up the complexity with the statement that "air looks and smells bad when it is dirty. That's called air pollution." Nevertheless, an older child might enjoy reading the book to a younger one and explaining such photographs as one with solar panels and another showing a child using an inhaler. Both text and photographs are winners in terms of gender equality, multiculturalism, and ethnic diversity. after the final comparison of clean air to love, there are two pages with a little more specific information, such as a simple explanation of air's composition and the cool fact that children take about twice as many breaths as adults. However, even here there are too many sentences reiterating the fact that clean air is important.
A prettily packaged bit of environmentalism for the youngest readers from a writing team of children's health advocates.
- Kirkus Reviews

Air: a fundamental source of life that people take for granted, even as they depend on it. By making air visible through plentiful illustrations and simple examples in the text, Ajmera and Browning remind readers to be responsible for this important resource. Each two-page spread describes a trait of air: it carries sound, it moves, it can be felt and seen. Photographs of people, plants, animals, and the planet visually support these traits, depicting faces and places that all readers will recognize and relate to. Air fills balloons, and bubbles, makes kites fly, blows an umbrella inside out, and turns windmills to create energy. The dangers of air pollution are described, as well as ways to prevent and repair the damage humans have caused. Blending simple science concepts about the nature of air with pictures that bring it all home, this book will inspire readers to take care of this crucial, wonderful, ubiquitous element. Explanatory panels at the end provide supplementary information in an FAQ format.
- Booklist

This book from the Moms Clean Air Force is a beautiful effort to inform and inspire children to care for the environment. The clear, brightly colored photographs feature a diverse cast of young children and animals engaging in outside activities, while the text explains the features and importance of clean air. The overall message is that every living organism on Earth needs clean air to survive. The straightforward sentences explain basic concepts about air, such as its ability to carry sound. Every child can relate to the narrative and photos, but adults can use the supplementary information at the back of the book to further inform children about the causes and effects of air pollution with suggestions to improve or prevent additional air damage. VERDICT This title serves as a solid introduction to young readers' study of basic human needs.
- School Library Journal

Author

Maya Ajmera is the founder of The Global Fund for Children and the co-author of more than fifteen books, including To Be a Kid, Faith, Children from Australia to Zimbabwe, and the global education guide, Raising Children to Become Caring Contributors to the World.

She is the President and CEO of Society for Science & the Public (SSP) and Publisher of its award-winning magazine, Science News. Maya lives in Washington D.C. View titles by Maya Ajmera
Dominique Browning View titles by Dominique Browning

Excerpt

Foreword
            If I told you that everybody in the world shares ONE invisible thing that keeps us ALL alive, would you believe me?
            If I told you that THAT THING is inside of us, AND outside of us, at the SAME TIME, would you think I was crazy?
            Maybe. Or maybe you would know that I was talking about air.
            I think you would know that, because kids are smart. Kids are so smart that they sometimes know things before grown-ups do. Like how to take care of our planet and keep our air clean for all the people, animals, and plants to breathe.
            Sometimes grown-ups have not been so smart about keeping the air clean, and we need to work harder at that. Because the air is important for all of us, but especially for you kids. You are growing and learning and getting bigger every day.
            And so we need to make sure that there is plenty of clean air for all the kids, all over the world.
            We NEED to do that. Because we love you so much.
—Julianne Moore
Copyright © 2016 by Maya Ajmera (Author); Dominique Browning (Author). All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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