Life (as We Know It)
by Ziggy Hanaor; illus. by Cristóbal Schmal
Primary, Intermediate    Cicada    64 pp.
10/25    9781800660564    $21.99

Introducing the evolution of life on Earth in sixty-four pages is like eating a metaphorical elephant: one takes it one bite at a time. Hanaor’s bites start before the Big Bang and conclude with a speculative future. Chronological events appear as captions in the graphic novel–style panels, sometimes covering long periods of time: “Very slowly over billions of years, the tiny cells gradually changed, becoming more efficient at living in their environment. This is called EVOLUTION. They begin to make fuel from the sun, releasing waste gas back into the air. This process is called PHOTOSYNTHESIS. The waste gas is called OXYGEN.” The captioning continues, with panels and some single-page illustrations; full-bleed double-page spreads break this flow to signal pivotal events such as the K-T extinction. Schmal’s eye-catching illustrations, with the look of watercolor, ink, and collage, mirror the narrative. Hanaor clearly states that there is much we do not know, both about these specific events and about early plants and animals, a theme reflected beautifully in the pictures—many suggest, rather than identify, early life forms, and in one case an illustration shows six upright mammals, creating an evolutionary chain from apes to humans. The work concludes with a certainty: in the future, as in the past, there will be change. A solid chronological overview.

From the November/December 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.