Belgian author-illustrator Peter Goes's gorgeous, oversized picture book, translated from Dutch, is a visual river of history that spans time from the Big Bang to "The 2010s" and teems with tiny cartoonish people and animals, mythological creatures, natural landscapes, buildings, maps, inventions, weaponry, paintings, musical instruments, vehicles, many ships, cultural artifacts and other historical touchstones.
Each expansive, breathtaking section--covering topics such as "The Ming Dynasty," "The 15th Century," "The Incas," "The Russian Revolution" and "Space Travel"--is printed on agreeably thick paper in a variety of deliciously muted colors. The ribbon-like whirl of human activity represented in the crisp, stylish artwork is mostly black, with spots of color, always flowing forward to the next page, emphasizing the grand continuum of history. Children will love poring over thousands of details--tentacles escaping a cooking pot in "Ancient Greece," a Dutch sailor poking a flightless dodo with a stick in "The 17th Century," Michael Jackson dancing with zombies in "The 1980s." For each section, a straightforward paragraph coolly sums up each period, while subtly embedded captions highlight more facts, such as "Chickens were already scratching around Egypt in 1400 B.C." and "The warlike Celts often fought naked." Goes escorts his readers all the way to "The 2010s" where his mention of Pharrell Williams's song "Happy" makes for a poignant soundtrack to Fukushima and the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris. Peaceful, humanity is not... and never has been.
Masterfully distilled in the roiling Timeline, the mad, beautiful world reveals itself as a wondrous place of never-ending conflict and resilience, chaos and order, destruction and innovation, disaster and delight. --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness