We are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom illustrated by Michaela Goade

"We fight for those

who cannot fight for themselves

The winged ones.

The crawling ones."

"In Ojibwe culture, women are protectors of the water and men are protectors of the fire."

This story deals with a specific threat to water by an oil pipeline but it also contains an important message about the care we all need to take of our precious environment. Here in Australia you could use this book for a unit about water, the environment, or with older students as a way to talk about other indigenous cultures. This book also links with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 - Clean water and sanitation. 

From the author web page: Water is the first medicine. It affects and connects us all… When a black snake threatens to destroy the Earth and poison her people’s water, one young water protector takes a stand to defend Earth’s most sacred resource. Inspired by the many indigenous-led movements across North America, this bold and lyrical picture book issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruption.

Water is the first medicine.

It affects and connects us all.

Water is sacred.

My people talk of a black snake that will destroy the land,

Spoil the water, wreck everything in its path.

They foretold that it wouldn't come for many, many years.

Now the black snake is here.

Here is a set of teachers notes. 

An inspiring call to action for all who care about our interconnected planet. Kirkus Star review

A young Sioux girl recalls the story her grandmother told, featuring the dire warning that a black snake would come, contaminating the water source, thus causing harm to all the animals and land. The young girl decides to take a stand in order to protect the water sources and provide safety for all living things. The “black snake” a.k.a. the pipeline. While this is a simple story, there is more to it than meets the summary. The black snake? It’s really an oil pipeline. Raising Real Readers

We are Water Protectors won the Caldecott Medal in 2021. The criteria for the Caldecott emphasise the importance of the illustrators and in We are Water Protectors the illustrators are truly special. 

About the Caldecott Medal:

• The Medal shall be awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published by an American publisher in the United States in English during the preceding year. There are no limitations as to the character of the picture book except that the illustrations be original work.
• A “picture book for children” as distinguished from other books with illustrations, is one that essentially provides the child with a visual experience. A picture book has a collective unity of story-line, theme, or concept, developed through the series of pictures of which the book is comprised.
• A “picture book for children” is one for which children are an intended potential audience. The book displays respect for children’s understandings, abilities, and appreciations. Children are defined as persons of ages up to and including fourteen and picture books for this entire age range are to be considered.

Lotus and Feather by Ji-Li Jiang illustrated by Julie Downing

Lotus has been unwell, and her illness has taken her voice away. The other children no longer invite her to play. She lives with her kind, wise and compassionate grandfather beside a lake that used to be filled with lotus flowers, birds and fish. 

"One morning, Lotus went to collect reeds for her Grandpa. She stopped in awe when she saw a big bird, as white as fresh snow, standing in the marsh grass. Its wide wings edged with black feathers, like lace on a dress. Above the long, curved neck, its head was crowned with a red top like a dazzling ruby."

As Lotus stands looking at this exquisite creature a gunshot startles her. Her bird has been shot. She carefully carries him back to her grandfather. Over the coming weeks and months Feather gradually heals and eventually he stands up and even seems to dance. This entrances the other children. Then one evening Feather begins to crow loudly. He has sensed an earthquake. Lotus and her grandfather rush to alert the villagers because their lake is about to flood. 

Bookseller blurb: A winter illness left Lotus, a little girl, without a voice and without friends. A hunter's bullet left Feather, a crane, injured and unable to fly. As Lotus nurses Feather back to health, their bond grows. Soon Feather is following Lotus everywhere, even to school! The bird dances to the girl's reed whistle, much to the delight of the other children. One day, when the village floods, Feather helps raise the alarm as Lotus and her grandfather urge their neighbors to get to high ground. Feather is a true friend to Lotus, but the time comes when Lotus must be a true friend to him--by encouraging him to migrate with the rest of the cranes. The next spring, Feather miraculously returns, and that's not all . . . he has brought new life to the nearby lake. Inspired by the true story of a crane that rescued a Chinese village, and graced with sensitive watercolor illustrations, this lovely book about respecting nature offers deep emotion and delightful surprises.

Elegant storytelling and arresting compositions combine for a deeply satisfying emotional and aesthetic experience. Best shared one-on-one or in a small group so that children can pore over the lively and engaging artwork. School Library Journal

Downing’s finely crafted illustrations perfectly complement this reassuring story. Done with watercolor, pencil, and paint and digitally collated, they have the look of Chinese paintings, with misty backgrounds and gently bending reeds. The rosy-cheeked children wear red scarves, alluding to the author’s own childhood during the Cultural Revolution. Kirkus

My friend at Kinderbookswitheverything set up an extensive display of books for Chinese New Year and among them I found Lotus and Feather. This is a book to read and treasure and it has wonderful illustrations. It was published in 2017 but I think it is still available although sadly, as with all US Picture books now, it is very expensive at over AUS$40. I have not found a paperback edition. 

Here is the webpage of the illustrator Julie Downing. Read more about Ji-Li Jiang here. You can watch a video of the book at Storyline Online. 

Kind: A call to care for every creature by Jess McGeachin

"In this book you'll find

Many kinds of things

Some have slippery scales

Some have feathered wings

But kind is more than type

Kind is how to care

For creatures that you meet

And places that we share"

Kind is a truly special book. It is in part a rhyming narrative and in part a non fiction catalogue of animals. The layout of white text page and bold colour background on each animal group works really well to showcase all the variety of creatures found in the animal kingdom. Jess McGeachin has covered the main animal groups: Mammals, Reptiles, Amphibians, Birds, Insects, and Fish. It is easy to see he works in a museum. A great deal of care has been taken with the scientific-style illustrations and the book design is excellent too, with the yellow illustrated spine and the end papers.

The rhyme is strong and consistent, the cover is tactile and inviting, and I really appreciated the final pages which flip the word kind to mean kindness to towards others and self.  I did wish this book had back matter but I guess young readers could use it as a jumping off point to research or discover more about the animal names that sound so interesting for example I would like to know more about many of the horned animals such as Gerenuk; Blesbok; Klipspringer; and Greater Kudu.

Although this is not a story there are many elements that make it both a picture book and a non fiction text. There is a very strong sense of place which is different on each and every spread – from sandy shores, coral reefs and deep ocean depths, to grassland, wetlands and red desert. 

The ‘characters’ of the different animals themselves are diverse and convincing, but there is also a sense of character in the narrative voice – a gentle commanding tone, use of second person pronouns to draw the readers in - and also in the child in the forest who opens and closes the book. Repetition of the phrase "Be kind to those ... " has a beautiful rhythm when the text is read aloud.

The word choices in this book are perfect:

"Be kind to those who weave they knit and knot with ease a home in silver silk dancing on the breeze."

"Be kind to those with find as they dart below the reef. A symphony of colours beyond the eyes' belief."

"Be kind to those who wake while others start to yawn. A parliament is sitting before the break of dawn."

This book is a very clever weaving together creatures from the natural world with the concept of kindness. The illustrations and design are bold and engaging. There would be lots to discuss with a class about the meaning and choice of the title. There are lots of details to pour over on each page - rather like looking at an animal catalogue. This is wide-ranging book that takes the reader out from a central anchor of interpreting the nature of what kindness means in different contexts and settings. 

Kind has been listed as a CBCA 2023 Eve Pownall (Non Fiction) Notable book. Another book by Jess McGeachin - Deep also made this list and then went on to be selected for the shortlist of six.