Drop of Water

Name: Drop of Water
Author: Gordon Morrison
ISBN: 9780547529332

by Gordon Morrison

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Overview

A child crouches beside a meadow brook, and a drop of water collects and falls from the child’s fingertip to continue on its journey. Where does that journey begin? High in the sky, rain clouds are parting. Water trickles and flows down the mountain, collecting in an upland bog, seeping through a beaver’s dam, rushing over rocks, passing many plants and animals along its winding way—each dependent on water and the different environments it shapes to live. Author and illustrator Gordon Morrison has captured a single moment in time, revealing the course and influence of water, and inviting readers to pause and consider the world around them in this beautiful and lyrical appreciation of nature and the resource that makes it all possible—a drop of water.

About the Author, Gordon Morrison

Gordon Morrison is a well-known naturalist whose work has been praised by Roger Tory Peterson as "Marvelous, beautiful, excellent . . . Morrison's work is so inspiring that I wish such clear material was available when I was slowly learning ecology. . . . We owe a debt of gratitude to Gordon for his interpretive skills as an artist. He is a superb teacher who uses visual methods." Robert Bateman likened his work to that of Albrecht Durer and Andrew Wyeth. Gordon Morrison makes his home in Massachusetts.

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Editorials

Children's Literature - Carolyn Mott Ford

Wonderfully written and superbly illustrated, this book transports the reader to a busy, yet peaceful, natural world. The everyday life along a stream is explored, beginning with what transpires as a drop of water which begins to form on a young boy's finger. During that moment, much is happening. The rain stops, a hawk soars through the sky, and a fox laps water from a mountain pool. As the water flows to the forest, a moose stands in the stream, and a beaver works on a dam. A weasel catches a fish, and ducks feed in the lowland swamp. Holstein cows and barn swallows drink from a farmer's pond while the water turns past timothy grass. Then, from the young boy's finger, the drop of water falls. This book has a magic to it and encourages an appreciation and caring for the environment in a positive rather than a negative or frightening manner. Youngsters will not feel as though they are being lectured. Rather, they will enjoy an awareness of the beauty of their surroundings. This is a great book to share with a child.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2-Beginning with a child exploring the water in a creek, Morrison imagines how a drop on his finger made its journey through the water cycle. Detailed, multicolored illustrations take readers high in the sky as the red-tailed hawk flies and the raindrops fall, providing a view of the marsh and the mountain stream from above. Finally, the pictures zoom back to a close-up of the boy to complete the circle. Readers can appreciate this narration on two levels: first, as a simple story of the hydrologic cycle; and second, as a search to find various types of plants and animals. Three pages of informative facts about each bird, mammal, and plant pictured are appended. Walter Wick's spectacular Drop of Water (Scholastic, 1997) is for slightly older children. Morrison's title will especially resonate with young readers who live near or frequent rural areas, where they can appreciate firsthand the power of a single drop of water.-Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

From the Publisher

Readers can appreciate this narration on two levels: first, as a simple story of the hydrologic cycle; and second, as a search to find various types of plants and animals.
School Library Journal

Each double-page spread opens on a new scene, deftly illustrated in pencil drawings that are brightened with colors to highlight portions of the picture.
Booklist, ALA