My enormous thanks to Isabelle Kenyon for sending me a copy of Planet in Peril: An Anthology For Our Time in return for an honest review. I knew that I would be in for something rather special with this book as I have featured Isabelle and Fly on the Wall before. You’ll find my reviews of other Fly On The Wall books here.

What is so wonderful about Planet in Peril: An Anthology For Our Time is that Isabelle is keen to get the book into as many libraries as possible and to work with schools on the issues raised. You can find out more here. I shall be donating my copy of the book to my local library later.

Out on 1st December 2019, Planet in Peril: An Anthology For Our Time is available for purchase in all formats here with a library donation scheme and currently in hardback only on Amazon. The paperback release is being delayed on Amazon because the hardback is FSC certified paper and Fly on the Wall want to ensure the project is as ethical as possible. 20% of profits will go to WWF and The Climate Coalition.

Planet in Peril: An Anthology For Our Time

When the sciences and the arts begin to work together, a powerful force is created. This anthology was founded upon the belief that words have the power to change. Through poetry, photography and art, creatives across the globe, from the age of 8 to 80, have united to express the urgency of global warming, facing the facts but never losing hope.

My Review of Planet in Peril: An Anthology For Our Time

A book of photography and verse with some factual passages that raise awareness of ecological issues.

Initially I thought the cover image of Planet in Peril was rather dark, but when I read the book and considered its message I realised it is utterly perfect. Wildlife is disappearing, becoming indistinct, if not extinct, and this shadowy cover encompasses that message absolutely. With the world reflected in its eye, this big cat is desperately hiding from the devastation we are wreaking on the planet.

Planet in Peril is a wonderful, wonderful book. Whilst its underlying principle may be sobering and stark, the way in which our desperate need to do something about climate change is presented is stunning. I found some of the factual passages saddening and would definitely say that reading Planet in Peril has given me cause to look at my lifestyle and see where I can make changes, but I finished this anthology with an overwhelming feeling of hope. We can do something.

I think this comes from the inclusion of wonderful writing from children and young adults in the section entitled Our Future. Ten year old Freya Wilson’s repetitive Don’t Forget was one of my favourite poems because her message is simple and impactful.

Aside from the important message in Planet in Peril, there is so much more to enjoy too. The quality of the poetry is gorgeous. Style, structure, vocabulary and image thrum with vitality across the anthology. I loved the lack of punctuation in poems like Anne Casey’s where once she danced, for example, as it illustrated to me the unraveling of the world’s natural resources with no means to stop it in the way the lines are never end-stopped. There’s beauty and creativity in the poems that is a joy to read. I also loved the explanations of how some of the poetry came to be written and I enjoyed the biographies at the end of the book too because they brought home to me that these are the words and feelings of real people so that I felt a genuine connection. With links to websites, Planet in Peril also affords the opportunity for the reader to find out more.

With many wonderful photographs from Emily Gellard, other artists also contribute so that Planet in Peril is a feast for the eyes too. Many images brought back memories for me such as the glacier in Antarctica or the image of a monkey trying to eat plastic in Bali’s Ubud Sacred Monkey Forest as I’ve seen both for myself.

In a sense Planet in Peril ought to be ‘worthy’ because of the message behind it, but instead it is beautiful, moving and affecting. It would make a sensational gift for any animal or nature lover. I thought it was wonderful.

About Isabelle Kenyon

Isabelle Kenyon is a poet, blogger and book reviewer. Her poems have published online for Bewildering Stories and as a Micro Chapbook for Origami Poetry Press. Isabelle has also featured in poetry anthologies such as Anti Heroin Chic, Literary Yard, the Inkyneedles anthology, Poetry Rivals, and the Great British Write Off. Isabelle has won awards and commendations from The Wirral festival of Music, Speech and Drama,the Festival of Firsts, the Langwith Scott Award for Art and Drama and the Visit Newark Poetry competition.

You can follow Isabelle on Twitter @kenyon_isabelle and visit her website. You’ll also find her on Facebook.