Book review: a 26-foot timeline makes up 'A Brief History of Life on Earth'

I was rather underwhelmed by, "A Brief History of Life on Earth." Obviously, covering the entire history of our planet in 38 pages means a lot of condensing will have to happen, but I was expecting more.

Image from Prestel Publishing

First, let's talk about what had my kids loving this book: the fact that the entire things unfolds to a 26-foot (8 meters) timeline. Unfolded, it's quite the object lesson. I made sure to point out to my kids that humans were only on the last few pages and they were blown away by how relatively new we are to the planet.

Image from Prestel Publishing

Now, the timeline has two sides. The first side makes up the pages of the book and has a bit more color to it. The flip side is mostly white, with blue lettering and it really only points out a few major events while captioning the different ages. Needless to say, none of my kids were interested in that other side; they preferred the first, more colorful timeline.

Speaking of the colors, this book is made up of a lot of pastel colors. And, in a book that is trying to talk about the entire history of the world, those pastels didn't quite do it for me. Also, the pictures are rather simplistic and bland, another disappointment.

Image from Prestel Publishing

But hey, if simple, pastel art is your thing, then this book is for you. Personally, I wish bolder colors, with a lot more detail had been used here. As I looked at the brief, captioned pictures I kept thinking to myself, "surely there had to be more animals than this during these 45ish million years."

While "A Brief History of Life on Earth" refers to evolution, it doesn't teach it. Rather, it treats it as a foregone conclusion and mentions it a few times. I know there are many differing beliefs regarding evolution and, instead of me taking a side, I'm merely trying to be informative. So, haters, don't hate!

Image from Prestel Publishing

This book has clean language and no violence in it. The foldout timeline can be hung on a wall or left attached to the book and unfolded. While this book doesn't go into depth regarding any of the animals or ages spoken of, it can be a good jumping off point to learn about different natural science subjects in more details.

Author and illustrator Clémence Dupont lives in France. "A Brief History of Life on Earth" is her first book. More of her work can be viewed on her website.

Book breakdown:
38 or 76 pages, depending on if you count the timeline
Full-color illustrations
Best for ages 7 and up
Educational merit: medium
Christian content: no
Parents could be concerned about: one instance in the beginning of the book says, "Welcome to hell!" in reference to the Hadean Age. Evolution is also briefly referred to throughout the book.