Thank You, World by Alice B. McGinty, illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin.

This picture book is a thank you to the entire world.  It thanks the sun, the sky, grass, breezes, trees, clouds, and much more.  The text speaks to the universal experience of us all.  Then the detailed illustrations come in and make this book about things that are at the same time universal and specific to a culture.  Each page has eight panels that highlight life in Mexico, Mali, Saudi Arabia, Bolivia, India, France, China and the U.S.  The book can be enjoyed at many levels and in many ways.  You can read it quickly, enjoying the text and the illustrations, you can pore over the illustrations following each specific country through every page, or you can take the theme of the page and enjoy the play and mix of the cultures represented. 

McGinty’s words are a wonderful dance with each line leading to the next in a sweeping joyous move.  Halperin’s illustrations echo that dance with the crayon drawings that will inspire children and adults alike to dig for unused colors in their Crayolas. 

A marvelous book for celebrating both diversity and commonality at the same time.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.