That's... Life by Cynthia Rylant

What is life? How does it begin? What does it mean?

LIFE BEGINS SMALL.

Noted author Cynthia Rylant takes on that sweet mystery, starting small, with Earth just shaping up as land and sea, and a small, brave seedling reacing its green leaves up to the sun. It's time to photosynthesize and oxygenize the planet.   Now you're talking!  And walking!

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT LIFE?

A little snake loves his GRASSSSSSSSSSSSSS. The centarian turtle loves the sweet, soft rain on its furrowed back.  The little elephant loves its mother's milk.

LIFE IS NOT ALWAYS EASY.

Nights can be dark and the trees can have thorns. But someone may be waiting for you to find your way home.  And there's always a new morning with something new to see.

LIFE GROWS.

Newberry-winner Cynthia Rylant offers a simple essay on that big subject, Life (Beach Lane Books, 2017), in a hopeful look at the meaning of life, from the "meaning of life" writ large, and in the life of some animals, wild and homey, and presumably we humans as well. Artist Wenzel's illustrations are quite lyrical and lovely, with touches of whimsy and humor in the faces of the living things he chooses to portray the many ways of life. This is a book for with something to say to persons of any age, a philosophical look at the meaning of life for all things and for just one creature that is part of the story of life.Says Kirkus, "A splendid tribute to the world and its splendors, with something to offer audiences of a broad range of ages."