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December 1, 2014

Engineer and former Canadian Air Force pilot Hadfield first flew in space in 1995 and in 2013 became commander of the International Space Station. During his tenure, the author's Twitter feed, which expressed his wonder at views of Earth and allowed followers to discover amazing images of our planet, gained in excess of one million followers. This title collects Hadfield's favorite images--around 30 each for Africa, Europe, Asia, Oceania, North America, and South American--all annotated with informative and exciting comments, many of which only someone who's had an extra-terrestrial experience can provide. A frequent theme is pareidolia, which the author explains is "the phenomenon of perceiving faces and figures in clouds, landforms and man-made objects"; Hadfield also notes when Earth's surface resembles familiar objects or materials, for example, elephant skin. Most of the book, however, needs no such commentary, with the author creating a sense of wonder merely by describing what is in front of him, often offering social and historical information on the place in question, too. A map on the closing spread notes the location that each photo depicts. VERDICT This attractive title is packed with geographical information and is one of those rare books that both children and adults will find fascinating.--Henrietta Verma, Library Journal

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