First edition of People by Peter Spier: An illustrated commentary on the many things that make each person unique. First edition hardback with later paperback included.
Hardback: Written and illustrated by Peter Spier. 1980, first edition. Doubleday New York, publishers. Bonus paperback: Later edition, A Doubleday Book for Young Readers.
The story begins with a picture of Earth, followed by Adam and Eve walking hand-in-hand through the Garden of Eden, followed by millions of people in all our fascinating variety.
"We all know that there are lots and lots of people in the world - and many more millions each year.
"There are now over 4,000,000,000 human beings on earth, and it takes you an hour to finish looking at this book, there will be over 4,000 more!
"By the year 2000 there will be 6,000,000,000 people on earth. If we all joined hands, the line would be 3,805,871 miles long and would stretch 153 times around the equator.
"Or sixteen times the distance to the moon. More than 4,000,000,000 people...and no two of them alike!
"Each and every one of us different from all the others.
"Each one a unique individual in his or her own right."
(The estimated world population in 2017 is 7.5 billion.)
Spier illustrates how we come in different shapes and sizes and different colors, with different eyes, noses, ears, lips, and hair. We wear different clothes, have different ideas of beauty, live in different houses, play different games, worship different faiths, celebrate different holidays, eat different foods, speak different languages.
In the end, "It is very strange: Some people even hate others because they are unlike themselves. Because they are different. They forget that they too would seem different if they could only see themselves through other people's eyes...Now, isn't it wonderful that each and every one of us is unlike any other?"
People won the 1980 Christopher Medal, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and won the Caldecott Medal in 1977 for Noah's Ark. Spier was known for use of pen and ink and watercolor to achieve meticulous attention to detail and historical accuracy.
NY Times: Peter Spier died in April, 2017.
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Condition - Hardback*: Fine/Very good. The dust jacket has a small closed tear on the top right corner, and minor sunning along the edges.
Condition - Paperback*: Fine.
*Based on guidelines of the Independent Online Booksellers' Association.
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