Freshwater & Marine Ecology, Fiction - General & Miscellaneous

Water

Name: Water
Author: Frank Asch
ISBN: 9780152023485

by Frank Asch, Deborah Halverson

Available on Bookshop Write a review

Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.

Overview

Water is beautiful and useful and, in its many forms, vital to life. In this lyrical companion to The Earth and I, Frank Asch encourages young readers to appreciate anew one of our most precious resources.

Synopsis

This colorful companion to The Earth and I encourages young readers to appreciate anew one of our most precious resources.

Publishers Weekly

Stylistically and thematically reminiscent of Asch's recent The Earth and I, this picture book offers variations on a basic ecological concept: the importance (and omnipresence) of water. With simple, declarative sentences, the author runs through a litany of definitions, from the specific (``Water is rain. Water is dew'') to the abstract (``Water is high in the sky. Water is deep in the earth''). Unfortunately, the cumulative effect of the ``Water is'' construction is tiresome; teachers and purists may object to misleading statement (``Water is what fish breathe''). The accompanying watercolor and acrylic illustrations are appropriately liquidy and abundantly prismatic, with colors bleeding into one another for a rainbow effect. The result includes striking, multicolored snowflakes, confetti-like rainstorms and striped waterfalls. Wavering between narrative and nonfiction, this title struggles to find an appropriate audience. For a more solid-er, fluid-presentation, see Ken Robbins's Water (Children's Forecasts, Nov. 28), a photo-essay released last season. Ages 3-7. (Mar.)

About the Author, Frank Asch

FRANK ASCH has written and illustrated more than sixty books for children, including the popular Good Night, Baby Bear. He lives in Vermont.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

From the Publisher

"Visually appealing...a useful and attractive way to develop an appreciation for the environment in young readers.—School Library Journal
"Reminds us of all the beauty that water can bring."—Booklist
"Seldom has plain old water appeared so colorful....Asch celebrates water's many forms with a succinct text and lush paintings."—Kirkus Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Children's Literature - Victoria Crenson

Life as we know it would not exist without water. "Water is high in the sky. Water is deep in the earth." Frank Asch's book Water explores the wet world we live in. With vibrant, rainbow-rich illustrations, young children discover that water is essential; that it moves, flows and takes different forms: from raindrop to snowflake, from tiny brook to wide, wide sea. A funny city scene shows how people use water for everything from cool drinks and bathing to car washing, heating systems, fire fighting and even for water balloons.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1-This celebration of water is a companion volume to The Earth and I (Harcourt, 1994), and shares its format and theme-nature appreciation. Asch identifies some of the many places water is found, from the obvious (rivers, lakes, rain, ice) to the not so obvious (clouds, dew, a tear). Although most examples will be familiar to young children, the picture of clouds with the caption ``Water is high in the sky'' may confuse them. A double-page spread of an urban scene shows the many uses of water, from car washing to putting out fires. As in The Earth and I, brightly hued watercolor, acrylic, and colored-pencil illustrations executed in collage style create a kaleidoscopic effect. However, despite the vivid colors and flowing lines, some of them appear static. Overall, though, the book is visually appealing. Michelle Koch's World Water Watch (Greenwillow, 1993) offers a similar message at a slightly higher level and provides more substantial information. Asch's title is not an essential purchase, but it is a useful and attractive way to develop an appreciation for the environment in young readers.-Heide Piehler, Shorewood Public Library, WI