Our Air
by G. Brian Karas; illus. by the author
Primary    Paulsen/Penguin    32 pp.
10/25    9780593625514    $18.99

With the opening sentence, “I am the Air,” Karas (On Earth, rev. 9/05) establishes personified air as the narrator, reassuring readers that even though, scientifically speaking, they cannot see or smell or hear it (“what you hear is not me, but the sound waves that travel through me”), air is always with them as they constantly breathe in and breathe out. Air continues by noting that readers can feel when it moves and also what’s in the air (moisture, for instance). Diagrams of the Eastern and Western hemispheres clearly show the movement of the jet streams as well as the general location of typhoons and hurricanes and wind systems such as the Southeast Trades and Westerlies. Although millions of years ago there was no air on Earth, it now brags that it is the “perfect combination of hydrogen and nitrogen” to sustain life on our planet and as such must be protected. Karas presents his information in small, illustrated segments in his signature watercolors, the art generously populated by children. Diagrams, such as one depicting air cocooning the Earth, provide concrete visuals for young naturalists. A concluding author’s note summarizes the movement and effects of air, the effect of altitude on air, and a simplified process of photosynthesis.

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