All the Water in the World

“A poetic, informative, and thoughtprovoking picture book looks at water from a global/environmental perspective but never loses sight of the personal for children…” (CCBC) Highly Commended, 2012 Charlotte Zolotow Award. For ages 4-8.

“In the 21 lighthearted, teasing poems and full-page paintings of ‘In the Swim,’ no rhyme is unrealized, no pun is left unturned. Florian’s quirky, inventive humor is brimming with wit and child appeal.” (CCBC) For ages 8-11.

“The rhyming text is expanded into a visual story by illustrations of a brown-skinned boy and girl interacting with the water cycle through the seasons as they wait for the school bus in the rain, skate on a frozen puddle, squelch through spring mud, and enjoy late summer cider.” (CCBC) Highly Commended, 2016 Charlotte Zolotow Award. For ages 4-9.

“Kids who wonder why their fingertips get wrinkly in the bathtub will find the answer to this question and other scientific stumpers in this simple but not simplistic study of the ways of water… Easy, quick experiments are interwoven into the text, delivered in a chatty style…” (Kirkus Reviews) For ages 3-6.

“Water not only rolls and rises, it slithers, snakes, streams, slides, hums, plunges, skids, slips and much, much more in this language-rich offering… Each three-line verse in [Pat Mora’s] bilingual (English/ Spanish) tribute to water is set against an expansive watercolor painting by Meilo So inspired by a specific geographic place on earth that is noted at volume’s end.” (CCBC) Honor Book, 2015 Charlotte Zolotow Award. For ages 5-8.

“An imaginative picture book describes water in tangible terms that are intriguingly varied with each season… The rhyming couplets provide creative ways of looking at water in each season, while the illustrations ground the ideas with concrete images.” (CCBC). Highly Commended, 2015 Charlotte Zolotow Award. For ages 4-7.

“Josephine Mandamin, concerned about water quality and conservation, organized a group of other Ojibwe women to walk around all the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River, blessing and singing to the water. They accomplished this remarkable feat in seven years, and then organized women from other Native Nations to do the same with the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, and in the frozen north. The account uses numerous Ojibwe words (defined in the glossary) to give a strong sense of setting and of the organizer’s Ojibwe heritage. Other colorful details, such as the fact that [Mandamin] went through 11 pairs of sneakers on her walks, make her unusual story particularly appealing to children.” (CCBC) For ages 6-10.

“A first-person narrative in Spanish and English tells the story of the water cycle. Agüita (Little Water) starts the journey deep inside Mother Earth, gradually working its way to the surface, where it forms as a drop of morning dew. It eventually makes its way into a river and then into the sky. Argueta’s poetic text moves from the smallest drop to an everexpanding personification of water (‘I am all colors / and have no color. / I am all flavors / and have no flavor. / I am all shapes / and am shapeless …’) Ugalde Alcántara’s textured paintings suggest Aztec-inspired symbols, and the text itself appears in Nahuat at the back of the book.” (CCBC) For ages 3–6.