Here We Are: The phenomenal international bestseller from Oliver Jeffers

Product Information

He bent to kiss her forehead. It was cold to his lips and she made no sign – no smile or frown or flinch – that she knew what he was doing. And he felt that his lips were touching also the cold surface of the water, the deep heedless water under which his father lay, unknowing too.

There are some laughs as well as things many parents will be able to relate to, and the overall message that we're all people and we should be kind to one another is something that is too often forgotten in adulthood. Y es que este libro ilustrado te invita a recordar que todos somos diferentes, pero al mismo tiempo, iguales. Te invita a recordar que eres parte de algo, de un planeta, aunque a veces en el traqueteo de la vida no te des cuenta. Por su sencillez, al ser una obra dedicada hacia los niños, Oliver Jeffers transmite todo ese amor de manera efímera, en una gama de colores brillantes y muy pocas palabras. Creo que para un niño puede resultar más sencillo de entender, porque normalmente, creo yo, son puros y no tienen la cabeza llena de pensamientos angustiantes y dolorosos como los adultos. No juzgan por religiones, aspectos o estatus. Creo que los adultos sí tendemos a hacerlo y por ello, Jeffers habla mayormente de lo que él quiere transmitir a su hijo: el mensaje del amor. Phil Davis did a great job narrating. His voice really fit with the story. However, I prefer narrators with more emotion in their voices. I don’t think that would’ve been as fitting with this story. I might have preferred to read instead of listen to Here We Are. From the skies to the animal kingdom to the people of the world and lots of other beautifully rendered examples of life on Earth, Here We Are carries a simple message: Be kind. -- NPR

Curriculum

Insightfully sweet, with a gentle humor and poignancy, here is Oliver Jeffers’ user’s guide to life on Earth. He created it specially for his son, yet with a universality that embraces all children and their parents. Be it a complex view of our planet’s terrain (bumpy, sharp, wet), a deep look at our place in space (it’s big), or a guide to all of humanity (don’t be fooled, we are all people), Oliver’s signature wit and humor combine with a value system of kindness and tolerance to create a must-have book for parents. Simply beautiful. In these times of civil unrest, sometimes a simple book can give us the insight we crave.

Jeffers offers notes on how to live on planet Earth, helping the reader make sense of the world and their role in it. Here We Are encompasses the mountains and oceans, space and constellations, and the animals and people who populate the Earth. We learn of the characters’ families. One was a child evacuee during the war. Two were pushed by mothers attracted to the theater and stage. In 1959, the three are in their middle to late twenties. We watch as they are caught up in the performing arts and each other.

Looking for something different

We have also included an activity that your class must add in the names of the planets in the solar system. But, I felt the incessant pull of literary fiction, an annoying itch I must periodically quell—it’s like the reading version of my annual need to consume candy corn, though I tend to regret reading litfic less than consuming candy corn, for obvious reasons (namely because it’s less waxy).