Water is Water by Miranda Paul illustrated by Jason Chin

Here is a strange suggestion - do not read the words in this book when you pick it up for the first time. Just turn the pages slowly and enjoy the scrumptious illustrations and do not skip past the first page, the title page and the dedication page. As you move through the story you will notice the seasonal changes and way these children embrace their outdoor environment. 

You can see nearly every page from this book here. 

Now go back and read the lyrical text. Miranda Paul has incorporated all aspects of the water cycle into a very satisfying narrative. This book is a science lesson but it absolutely does not feel like one. All of the water 'facts' are reserved for the final pages along with a further reading list.

"Puddles are puddles unless ... puddles freeze. Glide. Slide. Put on the brakes! Ice is ice unless ... it forms flakes."

If you have an audible subscription the audio version of Water is Water is well worth exploring. Here is the website for Miranda Paul. Check out my previous post. Scroll down through this site to find teaching resources for Water is Water. 

Chin’s realistic watercolor-and-gouache illustrations offer repeat readers seemingly endless new details, like the brother’s propensity for finding small animals with which to torment his sister. ... An engaging and lyrical look at the water cycle. Kirkus

Water is Water exemplifies how a complex subject shared through story engages the child, leap frogs all the diagrams and other didactics, and goes straight to the brain! Rather than “following the drop,” as many water cycle books do, this one analogously follows the constant motion of children, each on their own unique path. The children play and explore finding their relationship with nature – joining in as the natural story unfolds around them. Paul and Chin bring home to their readers a story of enormous proportions, one that is largely invisible to all of us, by focusing on children doing what they do outdoors. Brilliant! Montessori Images

Companion books:

Water can Be

Hey Water

Summer Blue

I have a huge 'want to read' collection on Pinterest. In a moment of enormous generosity my friend from Kinderbookswitheverything hunted out a heap of these titles from her library for me to borrow over the summer. Water is Water was one of those titles.  Water is Water is still in print but sadly it is way too expensive for school libraries here in Australia. 

Jason Chin is an award-winning illustrator. Here in Australia very few libraries hold copies of his Caldecott winner - Watercress - but is a book I really want to explore more closely.