Lola Schaefer’s remarkable text, spare and lyrical, begins with a volcano erupting beneath the sea (“Stone breaks. Water quakes. Magma glows . . . Lava flows and flows and flows.”) and proceeds to chronicle the formation of an island. Plants begin to grow (“Winds sow /seeds that blow.”), birds and insects arrive, and then it is discovered by people, chartered, and settled. Schaefer slips seamlessly from describing the island’s natural history to elements of an unspecified island culture, from food and commerce (“ 'Ripe fruit!’ 'Spicy Root!’ ” yell the merchants in the market) to the arts (“Drums play. Dancers sway.”) An endnote provides additional information on the formation of volcanic islands, and suggestions for additional reading in this picture book illustrated with Cathie Felstead’s colorful collage art. Highly Recommended, 2007 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Ages 4–7)

This is the story of the birth of an island, from the first red-hot glow of magma at the bottom of the ocean, to the flowing lava that hardens and builds up higher and higher until, finally, it breaks through the water's surface.

And then, life comes to the island. First come the small plants and animals, and later, people. This is a tale as old—and as new—as the ground we walk on.