What Do You Know? by Aracelis Girmay and Ariana Fields (9781592703210)

Created by two sisters, this picture book is an exploration of our world through a lens of positivity, ability to change and also a timelessness and sense of wonder. The book is a question, “What do you know,” asked by love and answered by people, objects and creatures. Their answers reveal depths and darkness, but also abundance and stars. They reveal the beauty of rain, the footsteps of fire. They include the wisdom of rocks and the wayfinding of bats. They share the insights of seafarers and farmers, each connected to a different part of our world.

Through asking the same question of the world around us, the authors create a book that celebrates the wild diversity of life on earth but also the connection to wonder and mystery around us. The book is simple yet deeply profound, offering hope in darkness, the breath of whales and bears, and the magnificence of change even if it takes millennia. Happily, the writing doesn’t rhyme, instead held together by the question and answer format. The writing is gentle and responsive, allowing each scenario to stand unique but also part of the whole.

The art is bold and simple. It moves from layers of earth in the fields to lava flowing across the land to the immense eye of a whale at sea. It invites us to see the beauty in laundry on an urban line, the marvel of goats on cliffs, and the profound black of a starlit night.

Gorgeous, deep and full of marvels. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy provided by Enchanted Lion Books.