Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Lots of picture books introduce young children to the water cycle, but few have such an infectious beat and eye-catching illustrations as this title, which begs to be read aloud. With occasional rhymes, the short, poetic lines are conversational and instructive and evoke a sense of mystery: Where does it come from? / Water doesn't come. / It goes. / Around. That rain / that cascaded from clouds / . . . then slipped into rivers / and opened into oceans, / that rain has been here before. Children encountering the scientific concepts for the first time may need help understanding how, exactly, Thirsty air . . . licks . . . sips . . . guzzles water from lakes and oceans. What kids will respond to immediately, though, are the noisy, delicious sounds and rhythms in the words as well as the kinetic energy in the beautifully composed, atmospheric digital illustrations, which have the richly patterned and textured look of paint-and-paper collage. Playfully arranged type in changing fonts adds to the visual fun while giving cues for energizing read-alouds. On the final, stunning spreads, a mother's hair swirls into a wave of water that becomes a joyful spiral of living creatures, all reinforcing the simple, profound message: our lives depend on so precious water.--Engberg, Gillian Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Pattern-driven digital illustrations pair with concrete verse to express water's cyclical nature: "Thirsty air/ licks it from lakes/ sips it from ponds/ guzzles it from oceans/ and this wet air/ swirls up." In a bone-colored landscape in another part of the world, a child in a hut and wild animals in a barren tree await a gray storm cloud. When a torrent comes, a lullaby-like line assures: "Honey,/ living things dream/ of water," and a mother with long, brunette hair embraces her child, droplets from her hair coalescing into tiny animal silhouettes. A lyrical and bighearted outpouring. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-Lyon briefly explains the water cycle in lyrical verse and celebrates its power to give life. "Water doesn't come./It goes./Around./That rain...has been here before," a result of water that evaporates into the air, "swirls up" into the clouds, and comes down again as rain. The precipitation is described as a "tap dance/avalanche/stampede/of drips and drops and drumming-/a wealth of water." In dry areas of the world, however, cups are empty, the soil has turned to dust, and "Everything waits...for rain sweet and loud." The digital collagelike illustrations pair dramatically with the text to depict this contrast. Turquoise endpapers usher in pages with swirls of water, water spouting from a hose, through pipes, down mountains. Rain pours down in horizontal and vertical spreads. But brown and cream-colored pages reveal a bare landscape where a little girl and animals alike anxiously anticipate an approaching rain cloud. At last, "this wet wonder" arrives and flows through all creatures, including a young child and mother whose water-sprinkled hair spreads across the pages to become a swirl of tiny creatures and plants. "Honey, living things dream of water...so precious," says the narrator. We must "keep it clear, keep it clean. keep Earth green!" Filled with rhythm and sound, this offering begs to be read aloud. Rochelle Strauss's One Well: The Story of Water on Earth (Kids Can, 2007) discusses the importance of water for older children.-Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Lyon celebrates the essence of life itself in a lyrical presentation of the water cycle, concluding with a vigorous admonition: "All so precious -- do not waste it. And delicious -- we can taste it. Keep it clear, keep it clean...keep Earth green!" Correcting what many young children may imagine as water's genesis at hose or spigot, Lyon writes, "Water doesn't come. / It goes. / Around," and segues swiftly to "Thirsty air / [that] licks it from lakes / ...guzzles it from oceans," and then the cool air that makes "those clouds / just / let / it / go / and / rain / rain / rain"...in "a wealth of water." Meanwhile, in sweeping, digitally rendered art resembling watercolor and collage, Tillotson creates luxuriant ocean swirls and pelting streaks of rain, followed by "far away" scenes in beige and tan where "dry grasses rustle / dirt's just dust." Then it's back to "this wet wonder" that flows "through you and through me." It's a familiar subject but a vital one, to which author and illustrator bring a passion and artistry that give it the power of story. joanna rudge long (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
