★ “This is a satisfyingly detailed romp, with plenty of minutiae for those who demand it, but broad enough for pleasure reading. The density of the material is tempered by Barman’s detailed but peppy color-saturated cartoons.”—School Library Journal, Starred Review
“A visual history of our planet’s long career as a nursery for living things.”—Kirkus Reviews
“With witty tour guides and striking visuals, this tour of, well, just about everything details the ‘long, beautiful trip’ from the birth of the planet to the present day. The evolution of life, full of pincers, jaws, feet and feathers, is the subject of most of the book — including the ‘furballs’ who were the distant ancestors of humanity. But ‘comic’ doesn’t mean unscientific — and the book takes care to explain the science behind, for instance, the giraffe’s long neck, and to debunk popular misunderstandings. What will the future bring? The book pulls no punches about the impact of humans on the world, but opens the door to wonder about what we have yet to discover (on Earth and beyond) and how we might continue to evolve.”—The Virginian Pilot
“The comic-panel illustrations are relatively uncluttered and easy to follow. Because humans are such a recent presence (evolutionarily speaking), most of the book’s discussion focuses on events from 4.6 billion to twelve thousand years ago–giving readers a good sense of the scale of time (a ‘geologic time scale’ is helpful).”—The Horn Book
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