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Everything Is Connected

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Everything Is Connected

Hardcover

$16.95

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Hardcover
$16.95

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Overview

A magical meditation on the powerful idea that we are connected to everything and everyone.

Playful illustrations and funny, rhyming text show readers all of the many ways we are linked to every big, small, hairy, slimy, snuggly, scaly, floppy, flappy, bristly, buzzy, beautiful creature on Earth.

“One of Bala Kids’s inaugural releases, this waggish picture book takes its title to heart, emphasizing readers’ connection to an eclectic roundup of people, objects, and phenomena.“—Publishers Weekly

“Jason Gruhl invokes Dr. Seuss with some light rhyming and brings up everything that entrances children—tarantulas, slime, comets, you name it. Ignasi Font’s visually complex and incredibly funny illustrations (a blobfish that looks like Squidward?) will keep kids observing even on the hundredth read. The book is destined to become a dharma classic.“—Tricycle

Everything is connected. And since you are part of everything,
you are connected to everything:

to pharaohs, Ben Franklin, T. Rex, ancient Greece, to love and to poverty, hunger and peace!

Product Details
About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611806311
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	02/05/2019
Pages:	36
Sales rank:	457,895
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

JASON GRUHL is the former Executive Director and founder of The Joshua School (a school for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Developmental Disabilities in Boulder and Denver, CO) and a Psychotherapist. Jason holds a Master's degree in Counseling Psychology and a Bachelor's degree in English and Psychology. He dedicates his life to helping others through meditation, writing, and self-discovery.

IGNASI FONT is an award-winning artist and illustrator. As Art Director for Bungalow Studio, he creates expressive and poetic ways to communicate ideas through animation, music artwork, editorial illustration, and children's books. Art connects us all—even "strangers in Spain." Ignasi and his family live in Barcelona, Spain.

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

11/26/2018
One of Bala Kids’s inaugural releases, this waggish picture book takes its title to heart, emphasizing readers’ connection to an eclectic roundup of people, objects, and phenomena. The narrative, which features a varying rhyme scheme and a peppy rhythm, begins with kids’ relationship with their own bodies, then spans out to illuminate their kinship with family and those they know (“You’re connected to friends/ and to teachers at school,/ and even to people you/ don’t think are cool”) and don’t know (“You’re connected to people in Denver and Maine,/ in Paris and Baghdad, to strangers in Spain”). A menagerie of animals follows, culminating in a quirky conclusion: “But, you see, we’re connected./ We all play a part./ In life we’re the same,/ we’re all blobfish at heart!” Without interrupting the upbeat vibe, Gruhl incorporates some less-than-rosy associations, noting that though people are connected to such positive human-made things as toys, books, and prayers, we also contend with bullies, lies, and pollution. In sync with the freewheeling text, Font’s stylized pictures, many with stark black backdrops, usher this metaphysical story to an open-ended, empowering finale. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

A thin string loops and winds around the people, animals, playgrounds, prayers, and gardens of the world, everything connected in a timeless whole—even scary, ugly things like chicken pox, bullies, lies, and pollution. In this engaging introduction to social consciousness and environmental awareness, color and form are given to the invisible ties that bind the universe together, from the tiniest of cells and atoms to the vastness of the stars and planets.”—Foreword Reviews

“One of Bala Kids’s inaugural releases, this waggish picture book takes its title to heart, emphasizing readers’ connection to an eclectic roundup of people, objects, and phenomena.”—Publishers Weekly

“A worthy attempt to make an ineffable concept accessible to a young audience.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Use this book to spark thoughtful conversations or to prod children to think about just why they matter.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“An exploration of our links with everything from blobfish to galaxies.”—Spirituality & Practice

“Jason Gruhl invokes Dr. Seuss with some light rhyming and brings up everything that entrances children—tarantulas, slime, comets, you name it. Ignasi Font’s visually complex and incredibly funny illustrations (a blobfish that looks like Squidward?) will keep kids observing even on the hundredth read. The book is destined to become a dharma classic.”—Tricycle

From the Publisher

01/24/2020
Gr 1–3—Gruhl depicts interconnectedness, starting off with how a person's body and organs are connected to create an individual. The text moves on to how family members, friends, and strangers form a community. The narrative scope is magnified as he zooms out and summarizes how animals, religions, and the universe are also all connected. More importantly, the author reminds readers that they are all connected to the good things in life (playgrounds and bicycles), but also to the bad things (chicken pox and bullies), not to mention lies, greed, and pollution. Though the message is good, it's unclear what the author intended the reader to gain with the meaning. The book simply ends with the reminder that everything is connected. Gruhl's rhyme scheme helps make the book flow and definitely relates to the message of connection; but the lines often don't read perfectly, as the rhyming scheme changes or is at times dropped entirely. And with the way the book is laid out, most readers won't realize they are reading a rhyming book until midway. Illustrations give the story a modern graphic novel feel. Font's artwork is minimal but fun, and the line that goes through each page from left to right is a subtle touch that reinforces the theme. VERDICT This thought-provoking title emphasizes the power of our connection to the universe and one another.—Peter Blenski, Hartland Public Library, WI

School Library Journal

2018-11-26
A single line swirls, connecting objects, people, and even planets.
The author begins with literal connections and then moves outward: We are connected to our bodies, to others, to animals, and to all things humans have created. We may feel proud of some of these creations, but others may give us pause, such as poverty, greed, and lies. The author acknowledges that being human can sometimes feel like quite a mess! We are even declared connected to "Jesus and Buddha, Muhammad and Moses," who are each shown in portraits, a geometric image standing in for the representation of Muhammad. What exactly this connection is or means, however, remains abstract and ambiguous. An unfortunate drawback is that the text often gets in its own way. At some points a seemingly rigid adherence to rhyme comes at the expense of sense; in others the rhyme structure is abandoned. This makes for a confused read-aloud. Still, the book generally succeeds at what seems to be its objective—to spark questions and conversations. The clean-lined illustrations have a surreal quality, appropriately matched to the subject matter. Human figures are shown in silhouette or with unrealistic skin tones, like paper white, jet black, and shadowy green. The thread of the single line woven throughout the illustrations adds a helpful, literal representation of connection, though it's an idea that may be a bit too abstruse for the intended audience.
A worthy attempt to make an ineffable concept accessible to a young audience. (Picture book. 6-10)

Kirkus Reviews

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