Water is life. A simple idea but the enormous importance of the water, that water is a limited resource, is often not appreciated.
We learn about the water cycle – rain falls, puddles form, mud oozes down into the earth, water evaporates, condenses into rain, sleet or snow, and falls again. But that is only the beginning, the “tip of the iceberg!”
Because water is such a shape-shifter and can become so many different forms – a gas, a liquid, a solid – water can move from ocean to desert, from frozen glacier to tropical sea, from your garden hose to my thirsty tomatoes. And because it can change and move, water can be cleaned up. The water we have is the only water we have. Since before the time of the dinosaurs, our supply of water has remained unchanged.
Several delightful picture books present this information in lyrical, visual ways. Laura Purdie Salas’s WATER CAN BE illustrated by Violeta Dabija begins with a winter scene: “Water is water – it’s puddle, pond, sea, When springtime comes splashing, the water flows free.”
The magic of the water cycle nearly splashes off the pages of WATER ROLLS, WATER RISES, EL AGUARUEDA, EL AGUA SUBE written by Pat Mora and illustrated by Meilo So: “Blown by the wind, water sails high. Tumbling cloud plumes curl through the air. Slow into rivers, water slithers and snakes, through silent canyons at twilight and dawn.”Don’t miss the tumbling, rolling picture book, ALL THE WATER IN THE WORLD, written by George Ella Lyon and illustrated by Katherine Tillotson or the wonderful water-cycle book, WATER IS WATER, by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Jason Chin, which shows the many forms water can take from summer puddles to autumn’s “Slosh in galoshes, Splash to your knees!” From winter’s “Glide, slide, put on the brakes! Ice is ice unless ….” to spring’s, “Creep. Seep. Squish in your boots.”
Become water fluent about this life-sustaining resource. Become aware of ways to shrink your own water footprint. Join the “water dance.”
Forms of Water Round the World
Asch, Frank, Water, Voyager Books, Harcourt, Inc., NY, 1995.
Brimner, Larry Dane, Glaciers, Childrens Press, NY, 2000.
Gowan, Barbara, D Is for Desert Sleeping Bear Press, Ann Arbor, MI, 2012.
Locker, Thomas, Water Dance, Voyager Books, Harcourt, Inc., NY, 1997.
Waldman, Neil, The Snowflake, Millbrook Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2003.
White, Dianne, illustrated by Beth Krommes. Blue on Blue, Beach Lane Books, Simon & Schuster, 2014.
Call to Action (Water is Life; Walking for Water; Carrying Water; Wells of Water)
Flood, Nancy Bo. Water Runs Through This Book, Fulcrum Publishers, Golden, CO, 2015.
Shoveller, Herb, Ryan and Jimmy, Kids Can Press, Tonawanda, NY 2006.
Guillan, Charlotte, Saving Water, Heinemann Library, Chicago, IL., 2008.
Park, Linda Sue. Long Walk to Water. Clarion Books, 2010.
Ganeri, Anita and Chris Oxlade, Down the Drain, Heinemann Library, Chicago, IL., 2005.
Strauss, Rochelle, One Well, Kids Can Press, Tonawanda, NY, 2007.
General Information: Water
Asch, Frank, The Earth and I, Harcourt, Inc., NY, 1994.
Woodward, John, Water. DK Eyewitness Books, NY, 2009.
Flood, Nancy Bo. Water Runs Through This Book, Fulcrum Publishers, Golden, CO, 2015.
Mason, Adrienne, Planet Ark, Kids Can Press, Tonawanda, NY, 2013.
Newman, Patricia, Plastic Ahoy, Millbrook Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2014.
Stewart, Melissa, Water, National Geographic Kids, Washington, DC, 2014.
Woodward, John, Water. DK Eyewitness Books, NY, 2009.
MORE BOOKS – are listed in the Discussion Question Guide, located on my website, nancyboflood. Lists include both WATER-themed novels and WATER-themed nonfiction.
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