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Hanaor, Ziggy

Life (as We Know It)

64 pp. | Cicada | October, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9781800660564 $21.99
(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Cristóbal Schmal. Introducing the evolution of life on Earth in sixty-four pages is like eating a metaphorical elephant: one takes it one bite at a time. Hanaor’s bites start be-fore the Big Bang and conclude with a speculative future. ­Chronological events appear as captions in the graphic novel–style ­panels, sometimes covering long periods of time: “Very slowly over billions of years, the tiny cells gradually changed, becoming more efficient at living in their environment. This is called EVOLUTION. They begin to make fuel from the sun, releasing waste gas back into the air. This process is called PHOTOSYNTHESIS. The waste gas is called OXYGEN.” The captioning continues, with panels and some ­single-page ­illustrations; full-bleed double-page spreads break this flow to signal pivotal events such as the K-T extinction. Schmal’s eye-catching illustrations, with the look of watercolor, ink, and collage, mirror the narrative. Hanaor clearly states that there is much we do not know, both about these specific events and about early plants and ­animals, a theme reflected beautifully in the pictures -- many suggest, rather than ­identify, early life forms, and in one case an illustration shows six upright mammals, creating an evolutionary chain from apes to humans. The work concludes with a certainty: in the future, as in the past, there will be change. A solid chronological overview.
Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2025

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