Life (As We Know It)

Ages 9 to 14, Grades 4 to 8

A poetic graphic novel that tells the scientific creation story of planet Earth

We think this much is true . . . Once upon a time, before time even existed, all matter in the universe was concentrated on a single point a fraction of the size of an atom. And then? And then it exploded.This sumptuous and poetic graphic novel tells the remarkable tale of life from its first iteration as a single cell through the planet's various phases of evolution and extinction to the strange, uncertain place we find ourselves in today. Factual in its content, but lyrical in its expression, Life (As We Know It) captures the unlikely magic and strange beauty that is at the heart of life on Earth and acknowledges how little we really understand about how we ended up here. We tell our children stories of apples and snakes, of gods and monsters. But the creation story told by science is more perplexing and incredible than any we could ever make up.

About the Author

Ziggy Hanaor is a writer and publisher living in London. She is the author of picture books including Alex and Alex (2022) and The Pocket Chaotic (2021), as well as the critically acclaimed graphic novels Alte Zachen (2022) and The Egg Incident (2024).Cristóbal Schmal is a Chilean illustrator living in Germany. His tactile ink and watercolor style has garnered many prestigious clients including the New York Times, LA Times, Greenpeace, and Lufthansa. Life (As We Know It) is his first book.