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Water's Children: Celebrating the Resource That Unites Us All
Around the world, water appears in many forms: a snowflake, an oasis, the stream from a faucet, monsoon rain. In Water's Children, twelve young people describe what water means to them. The descriptions are as varied as the landscapes the speakers inhabit, but each of them also expresses, in their own language, a universal truth: Water is life.
Accompanied by the glowing illustrations of Gerard Frischeteau, Water's Children is a celebration of our world's most precious resource and will encourage thoughtful discussion among young readers and listeners. The narrators' words, lyrically written by Angele Delaunois, offer emotional and sensory details that bring their experiences to life. On the final page, a guide identifies the languages in which the phrase -water is life- appears in water marks on each spread throughout the book, with thanks to the individuals who provided the translations, helping to craft this truly global story.
Originally published in French and nominated for the prestigious TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, Water's Children has now been translated into six languages in eight countries around the world.
Accompanied by the glowing illustrations of Gerard Frischeteau, Water's Children is a celebration of our world's most precious resource and will encourage thoughtful discussion among young readers and listeners. The narrators' words, lyrically written by Angele Delaunois, offer emotional and sensory details that bring their experiences to life. On the final page, a guide identifies the languages in which the phrase -water is life- appears in water marks on each spread throughout the book, with thanks to the individuals who provided the translations, helping to craft this truly global story.
Originally published in French and nominated for the prestigious TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, Water's Children has now been translated into six languages in eight countries around the world.
- GenresPicture BooksNatureEarth
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
Angèle Delaunois
87 books4 followersAngèle Delaunois is a Canadian author born in France and living in Quebec. She was born in Granville and came to Quebec in 1968, becoming a Canadian citizen in 1976. She earned a BA in plastic arts from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and was a lecturer there for ten years.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 20, 2017
Beautiful picture book!
December 10, 2022
Çocuklarla sabah okuması. Mesajıyla, konusuyla, çizimleriyle çok güzel bir kitap. Pre- #madmax bir dönemi belki de yeterince farkında olmadan yaşadığımız şu dönemde suyun kıymetine dair mesajlar önemli. Farklı dil ve kültürlerden çocuklar sayfalarda yerini almış. Kendi iklim, coğrafya ve kültürleriyle ilgili detaylarla su “güzellenmiş”. İki sayfacıkta farklı kültürleri hiç de fena olmayan şekilde resmetmişler. Okurken üzülerek, suyu kaybettiğimiz gibi, kültürleri de kaybettiğimizi, tekdüzeleştiğimizi düşündüm. Ve yine bu multikültürel kitap, bir nehrin gözünde kurulmuş Blagaj Tekkesini ve kitabesini aklıma düşürdü. Yeşilli mavili kaynağın başında #enbiyasuresi 30. Ayet dört dilde yer alır: “Biz canlı herşeyi sudan yarattık.” | “We made every living thing from water.”
December 31, 2022
This picturebook incorporates poetic text and beautifully illustrated images about the lives of many children worldwide and what water means to them. Each storyboard portrays one child and their specific environment and takes the reader to a different place. Some of the settings are the desert, the Amazon rainforest, a city, and the Artic, among others. The text is written poetically in the first person, giving each child the essential power of agency. Each storyboard has a five-verse poem that always starts with “For me, water is...” and a sixth verse at the end is detached from the main paragraph to emphasize the most important meaning of water for each child. The image relationship is harmonious, as the illustrations comprise all available space, giving the reader a sense of vastness and immersion into the different environments that are portrayed. I love this picturebook because it’s holistic. 6–8-year-old children who read this book will learn about diverse landscapes and how water is key to complex ecologies around the world. Furthermore, readers can grasp the notion of natureculture or bioculture that all human cultures have in relationship to natural elements, specifically water, and how our interconnection with water influences our mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Similarly, young readers can appreciate what is important for other children and reflect on what is important to them, like the child who lives in the desert ecology and expresses that water is mint tea for them. This book also depicts certain socio-environmental issues that affect children around the world, for example, the child who talks about the dam that submerged their ancestral land. with inspiring phrases like “For me, water is the river that breaths” (“Para mi el agua es el río que respira”), this book is an outstanding opportunity to talk about why water is so important for humans to thrive on this planet and for us to maintain a balanced relationship with non-human beings who also depend on water. A great book for any age really! WATER IS LIFE 💖
June 11, 2017
Each page of this book features a child or children in a different part of the world expressing what water means to him or her. There are warm climate settings, cold climate settings, town, farm, forest and desert settings. There is a balance of boys and girls depicted. Most are interacting with the water (or its products). Each page also shows how to write “water is life” in the language the child would speak in that region.
The first page has an unseen person asking “Child of here, child of there, child of water . . . tell me about the water you see, the water you drink, the water that bathes you.” On the pages that follow, children answer. This is a perfect set-up for a discussion during story time, a writing activity for older elementary students, a thoughtful art activity for children of any age. What is water? How do you use it? What does it mean in your life?
The text itself is poetic and dreamy. On repeated readings, it is almost a lullaby and could become a bedtime story.
There are different colors and moods on every page. On some, the children look happy. Some are playing and some are working. Some pages are gloomy. Young readers will understand, through the text and illustrations, that some children struggle to get the water they need to drink and produce food.
Gerard Frischeteau is famous as an animator and commercial artist, and the illustrations here do have the feel of television animation. It's up to each reader whether that's a plus or a minus.
It would have been wonderful if the book included a map showing the locations of the children’s countries and the ecosystem depicted. Also useful would have been a pronunciation guide for the translations of "water is life."
This is an excellent story time resource, particularly for this year’s summer reading theme, “Build a Better World.”
The first page has an unseen person asking “Child of here, child of there, child of water . . . tell me about the water you see, the water you drink, the water that bathes you.” On the pages that follow, children answer. This is a perfect set-up for a discussion during story time, a writing activity for older elementary students, a thoughtful art activity for children of any age. What is water? How do you use it? What does it mean in your life?
The text itself is poetic and dreamy. On repeated readings, it is almost a lullaby and could become a bedtime story.
There are different colors and moods on every page. On some, the children look happy. Some are playing and some are working. Some pages are gloomy. Young readers will understand, through the text and illustrations, that some children struggle to get the water they need to drink and produce food.
Gerard Frischeteau is famous as an animator and commercial artist, and the illustrations here do have the feel of television animation. It's up to each reader whether that's a plus or a minus.
It would have been wonderful if the book included a map showing the locations of the children’s countries and the ecosystem depicted. Also useful would have been a pronunciation guide for the translations of "water is life."
This is an excellent story time resource, particularly for this year’s summer reading theme, “Build a Better World.”
February 21, 2023
LEER RESEÑA COMPLETA EN MI BLOG: https://www.blogdivergente.com/2023/0...
Doce niños de distintas partes del mundo reflexionan líricamente sobre lo que significa el agua para ellos.
Los niños del agua es un paseo por doce países del mundo (Cataluña, Nunavut, Rusia, Alemania, América del Norte, Brasil, Perú-Bolivia, China, Israel, India, África del Norte y África Central) de la mano de unos niños que, con sus palabras y colores, describen qué representa el agua en la vida cotidiana de cada uno de estos países.
Para los niños que narran esta historia, el agua despierta sentimientos positivos —incluso para un chico catalán que observa cómo una presa inunda su pueblo, en aras de un nuevo poder. Ese poder del que habla es la electricidad, que ilumina las ciudades que rodean la presa—. “Para mí”, dice, “el agua es la noche que arde como el día”.
A pesar de lo optimista que puede resultar el relato, también se exploran situaciones en donde el agua es un recurso escaso: para un niño del desierto marroquí, el agua es “una taza de té de menta” y es la “mano extendida” de un camión cisterna que trae agua para su comunidad ubicada en Mauritania, asolada por la sequía.
Angèle Delaunois nos narra una visión realista sobre uno de los temas que preocupa nuestra sociedad, el agua, y tiene como objetivo resaltar la importancia del agua en la vida de todos, a la vez que muestra varias culturas del mundo.
Doce niños de distintas partes del mundo reflexionan líricamente sobre lo que significa el agua para ellos.
Los niños del agua es un paseo por doce países del mundo (Cataluña, Nunavut, Rusia, Alemania, América del Norte, Brasil, Perú-Bolivia, China, Israel, India, África del Norte y África Central) de la mano de unos niños que, con sus palabras y colores, describen qué representa el agua en la vida cotidiana de cada uno de estos países.
Para los niños que narran esta historia, el agua despierta sentimientos positivos —incluso para un chico catalán que observa cómo una presa inunda su pueblo, en aras de un nuevo poder. Ese poder del que habla es la electricidad, que ilumina las ciudades que rodean la presa—. “Para mí”, dice, “el agua es la noche que arde como el día”.
A pesar de lo optimista que puede resultar el relato, también se exploran situaciones en donde el agua es un recurso escaso: para un niño del desierto marroquí, el agua es “una taza de té de menta” y es la “mano extendida” de un camión cisterna que trae agua para su comunidad ubicada en Mauritania, asolada por la sequía.
Angèle Delaunois nos narra una visión realista sobre uno de los temas que preocupa nuestra sociedad, el agua, y tiene como objetivo resaltar la importancia del agua en la vida de todos, a la vez que muestra varias culturas del mundo.
October 13, 2017
I won the book, Water's Children, in a Goodreads Giveaway, and I am so glad I did!
Water's Children is visually stunning! Not even one small detail has been missed, from the book cover design to the title pages to each illustration it's all just beautiful. Each page shows a beautiful two-page illustration of a different geographical location and begins with the words, "For me, water is..." and goes onto describe what water means to a child of that location. Such a great idea and truly educational. My 3 year old daughter enjoyed having the book read to her and took a great deal of time studying all the vivid details of each of the illustrations. I highly recommend this book to children of all ages!
Water's Children is visually stunning! Not even one small detail has been missed, from the book cover design to the title pages to each illustration it's all just beautiful. Each page shows a beautiful two-page illustration of a different geographical location and begins with the words, "For me, water is..." and goes onto describe what water means to a child of that location. Such a great idea and truly educational. My 3 year old daughter enjoyed having the book read to her and took a great deal of time studying all the vivid details of each of the illustrations. I highly recommend this book to children of all ages!
December 8, 2017
I won Water's Children in a Goodreads Giveaway, thank you. This book is beautifully illustrated and makes you think of the way that water is regarded from the different countries throughout the world. I like the watermarks that say "water is life" in the different languages. I am going to pass mine on to an 8 year old whom I know around Earth Day for her to share with her class and make her a t-shirt to go with it. I'm so glad I got to enjoy this book.
October 10, 2017
I won a copy of this book.
This book was amazing. I could totally see someone using this book for Earth Day for kids. Each 2-page spread features a child saying what water means to them. Each child is from a different country, and somewhere on the page there is a little opaque circle with "Water is life" written in that child's language. Really nice book.
This book was amazing. I could totally see someone using this book for Earth Day for kids. Each 2-page spread features a child saying what water means to them. Each child is from a different country, and somewhere on the page there is a little opaque circle with "Water is life" written in that child's language. Really nice book.
May 18, 2017
This is one of my new favorite books. What does water mean to children around the world? Stunning.
October 11, 2017
I won a copy from Goodreads giveaways. Beautiful book. Simply written yet great for discussions about water and what it means in different parts of the world.
February 10, 2019
My four year old enjoyed this book and I did as well.
Great pacing, beautifully illustrated and great message.
Great pacing, beautifully illustrated and great message.
April 5, 2024
I love how this book shows the importance of water to cultures around the world and what the water is most prized for in those cultures.
February 18, 2017
Luminous illustrations that mimic the look and feel of water and various locations around the world fill the pages of this book, a textual and visual celebration of water. The lyrical text reminds readers that water is an important resource as 12 different children describe their feelings about this life-giving substance. From the laughter that playing in water elicits from a youngster in Quebec to the helping hand water pumps seem to represent in Mauritania, readers will realize that water is not abundant everywhere, and that there is no life without it. The inclusion of a watermark stating that "water is life" in various languages that are spoken by the 12 youngsters here helps readers realize that water is a universal need and a precious commodity. The poetic expressions of each of those humans provide insight into just how much water means to various communities. While the book can easily be shared aloud with young readers, it also has many uses for opening discussions about areas that have too little or too much water and whether water may one day be far more precious than oil as the planet's population continues to increase exponentially. It was neat to take this water-borne trip around the world.
January 7, 2024
Cet album aux dessins magnifiques est une multi-traduction sur la thématique de l'eau comme ressource.
Bien qu'entièrement en français, chaque duo de pages est tiré d'un texte original d'un coin du monde dans les langues innuktitut, innu, ruse, allemande, anglaise, portugaise, espagnole, mandarin, hébreu, tamoul, arabe et wolof.
Chacun apporte un témoignage, une conception et une perspective différente au sujet de l'eau, véritable or bleu. Pour certains, c'est une source de vie, pour d'autre, un enjeu politique, alors que d'autres apporteront son aspect culturel et rassembleur.
Un album qui ouvre sur le monde, littéralement, et qui présente le double avantage d'être aussi ludique qu'instructif.
Un coup de cœur.
Catégorisation: Album québécois, littérature jeunesse débutante, 1er cycle primaire, 6-7 ans
Note: 9/10
Bien qu'entièrement en français, chaque duo de pages est tiré d'un texte original d'un coin du monde dans les langues innuktitut, innu, ruse, allemande, anglaise, portugaise, espagnole, mandarin, hébreu, tamoul, arabe et wolof.
Chacun apporte un témoignage, une conception et une perspective différente au sujet de l'eau, véritable or bleu. Pour certains, c'est une source de vie, pour d'autre, un enjeu politique, alors que d'autres apporteront son aspect culturel et rassembleur.
Un album qui ouvre sur le monde, littéralement, et qui présente le double avantage d'être aussi ludique qu'instructif.
Un coup de cœur.
Catégorisation: Album québécois, littérature jeunesse débutante, 1er cycle primaire, 6-7 ans
Note: 9/10
April 15, 2017
This gorgeously illustrated book takes readers to twelve earthly landscapes where they learn the importance of water in each region. A guide on the last page reveals the countries. Search the pages for the phrase “Water is Life,” written in each child’s language. Ages 4 to 8 will read and discover the virtues of this precious resource.
Want to Read
November 18, 2017I'm going to be giving this book away to a six-year-old boy as part of his Christmas gift.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews