We Are Human Animals

Through spare prose and digital art consisting of earthy handmade textures, Haine provides a picture of Paleolithic life depicting two children, portrayed with brown skin, cavorting among wild animals including rhinos, a mammoth, and hares. The book goes on to highlight a close relationship with nature: “The seasons were our calendar.” In one spread, hands of different sizes hold a stick, a leaf, an animal tooth, and more (“We knew our world so well”). Later examples touch on the emergence of art and language (“We made up names for all of it.... Every creature, thought, and flower”) before transitioning to a present-day scene that underlines the titular phrase. It’s a straightforwardly wrought introduction to early humans and a reflection on, per an author’s note, how “much of what we did then has made us who we are now.” Ages 5–9. (Mar.)