Hey, Water! by Antoinette Portis

Hey, water! I know you! You're all around. 

This is a simply perfect book to share with your youngest child or a preschool group. Every form of water is covered in this book but with an incredibly spare text and very appealing illustrations.

Image source: Antoinette Portis

Here are a few more examples - each line here is on one page:

Sprinkler You spray up

and down. Shower

...

You cover most of the earth - salty, surging, and mysterious. Ocean

...

In the morning, you wink at me from blades of grass. dewdrop

Look at how she made the dewdrop ever so slightly translucent, all with her brushwork. A book that has had care and time poured into its pages exudes that love when you read it. There is not a drop of paint or a flick of a brush out of place here. ...And maybe, just maybe, some little kid out there will read this book and, for whatever reason, love it dearly. Hey, Portis! You made a really good book. Betsy Bird SLJ

The illustrations are "are very simple but effective and convey the movement and the texture of the water in its various guises." Reading Time

Take a look at this Horn Book Review too. There are videos of this book but I suggest the book itself is a way better way to share this book. Note in US editions the first page says faucet not tap!

This is a book that should be added to every preschool and infants school library. 

Awards for this book:

• 2020 ALSC Robert F. Sibert Honor book

• A 2020 American Library Assn. Notable Book

• New York Public Library, Best Books for Kids 2019

• Chicago Public Library, Best Informational Books for Younger Readers of 2019

• A 2020 Bank Street Coll. of Education Best Children's Book of the Year

• Nerdy Book Club, 2019 Nerdy Award for non-fiction picture book

• A Mighty Girl’s 2019 Books of the Year

Take a look at another post on this blog about books by Antoinette Portis.