Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
The Line by Paula Bossio (Kids Can Press, 2013) is a wordless picture book that offers a unique look at how we can all be creative. In this book, a young girl notices a line and starts playing with it. She shakes it and watches it move; she forms it into a wild animal; she
Water is Water by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Jason Chin (Roaring Brook Press, 2015). Although the subtitle is “A Book about the Water Cycle,” Water is Water provides a readable, poetic reminder about the various stages in which water accumulates on the Earth. The various forms water takes range from water to steam (technically, it
Although Little Cloud and Lady Wind by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison, illustrated by Sean Qualls (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2010), is not a highly instructional book about the water cycle, I certainly cannot ignore a Toni Morrison book when it does even partially relates to the water cycle. In this fairy
Animachines by Debora Pearson, illustrated by Nora Hilb (Annick Press, 2003) is a creative comparison book for very young children. On each page, there is an animal doing something as well as a vehicle of some sort acting in very much the same way. Each two-page spread features a large single verb: fly, stretch, dig,
The first line of All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson (Atheneum for Young Readers, 2011) is so classic I find myself thinking about it, long after I finish reading this early introduction to the water cycle: “All the water in the world is all the water in the
My daughter studied Medieval and early modern history recently, and then last year my kindergartner and I studied places around the world. I so enjoy finding amazing picture books about the things we’re learning about, so I really enjoyed finding the historical fiction picture book Therese Makes a Tapestry by Alexandra S.D. Hinrichs, illustrated by
I love the unique style of Tomie dePaola, and I was so sad to hear that this iconic children’s illustrator passed away this year. I read Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola (Holiday House, 1992) two years when my daughter and I were learning Medieval history. In this biographic picture book, dePaola writes
The Snowflake: A Water Cycle Story by Neil Waldman (Millbrook Press, 2003). Over the course of a year, a single snowflake embarks on a unique journey, and Waldman’s book gives its story month-by-month. Through the journey, readers learn about water sinking into the Earth, water emerging in a mountain spring, water used for irrigation pipes,
When Cloud Became a Cloud by Rob Hodgson (Rise X Penguin Workshop, 2021). With very short chapters and simple-to-read text, Hodgson’s masterpiece about the water cycle manages to teach as well as entertain. It reads like a simple story, and even the illustrations seem friendly and childlike. Yet in his sparse text and deceptively simple
With an emphasis on the impact of the ocean in every aspect of our lives, The Ocean in Your Bathtub by Seth Fishman, illustrated by Isabel Greenberg (Greenwillow Books, 2020), introduces the water cycle by showing how the ocean’s water not only cycles through various stages, but also sustains life that feeds the world, provides
The Three Water Drop Brothers by Lee Eun-Hee and Yun Mi-Sook (English edition, Enchanted Lion Books, 2021) is an unusual picture book that introduces the water cycle from the very beginning of time (from the vapor from the first volcanoes) and then transitions into a folktale-like story about 3 different routes water drops take on
One book I love for rocking-chair reading is The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper, re-illustrated by Loren Long. My kids also love this one for rocking-chair reading. In fact, when we took the rocking chair out of my oldest son’s room to put into his baby sister’s room, he said, with serious concern,
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