Libby Hathorn (text), Christina Booth (illustrator), Mother Earth, Lothian, June 2023, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780734421555
Mother Earth is an ode itself to the wonder of nature. A poetic journey highlighting the earth – her beauty and frailties – sparks an emotive reaction from cover to cover.
Equally effective as a soothing bedtime read for babies or in preschool or kindergarten class during story time, Mother Earth has a rhythmic and song-like quality that is incredibly calming. In the classroom, themes such as nature, environmental protection, connections and communication can be well covered in a set of teachers resources across several curriculum topics including Humanities & Social Sciences (HASS), English Language and Literacy, Visual Literacy, Creative Arts and Learning Technologies.
Libby Hathorn, award-winning Australian author and poet, captures with great sensitivity the ever-changing moods in nature. Honouring the beauty of the lyrical poem, and also introduced and concluded in haiku, readers ride a tide of emotions as the realities of climate change are revealed poem by poem. Exquisitely illustrated by Christina Booth, the earth seems both big and small all at once.
Not simply a collection of poems to be read, but felt, it is filled with hope for our natural environment, and the role we play in protecting it.
We feel you in our earth and soul.
We know you in our earth and soul.
Reviewed by Shelley Stephens
