The World Is Awake: A Celebration of Everyday Blessings

Writing with poet Bottum, news correspondent Davis offers an endearing picture book that celebrates creation from a Christian perspective. Two African-American siblings begin their journey of appreciation and admiration by looking outside their living room window into a lush field filled with flowers, grasshoppers, and butterflies. The brother narrates as he and his sister head outdoors; his first-person rhymes sometimes strike adult, even preacherly notes (“The world is awake—it’s a wonderful place,/ alive with God’s power and glad with His grace”). Playful moments (including an animal parade at the zoo) keep the mood upbeat, and Fleming’s jubilant illustrations offer plenty of visual stimulation—her use of rough, scribbly texture brings depth to scenes of the children in a windswept meadow, visiting the zoo and farmers market with their parents, and taking part in a family dinner that precedes bedtime rituals of praying and reading stories. Together this trio has created a joyous book that communicates the beauty in everything, reminding readers to appreciate ordinary events and occasions, as well as Earth’s animals and other natural wonders. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agency: Bright Group. (Feb.)