Water Or Goo?

by Penny Reeve

Tania Abbey is just a regular girl from a regular Australian town - with one or two crazy ideas. She s also a peace-activist, environmental campaigner and follower of Jesus. Her latest idea? It s to be the only girl in her school to run a stall at the Water for the World march! Her parents certainly think it s crazy but Tania sets out to prove to them wrong. Water may be just an everyday thing to Tania and her friends but they soon realise how important it really is especially to people like Shanti an Indian girl they know. However, it s when Tania has a rather embarrassing toilet disaster that she realises just how essential water is! It s something that she just can t do without every day. Tania s plan for the march is coming along at full-speed but then she begins to realise that there is something else that she needs every day. Do people see Jesus in her life as she goes about doing her day-to-day stuff? Come the day of the March, there are hundreds of people all thinking about the same issue, Water for the World - for most of us it s an everyday thing to turn on the tap is it an everyday thing for Jesus to pour out of your life, though? Themes: Making a difference and Belonging to God.

96 pages, Paperback

First published September 14, 2008

About the author

Penny Reeve is an Australian children's writer. She has a passion for writing stories that help children engage and respond to the fascinating, yet complex, world around them.
She has more than 20 published titles and enjoys sharing her stories with children of all ages.

Penny also writes as 'Penny Jaye'.

Reviews

[Omega Writers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four reviews from our CALEB reviewers:

Four and a half stars.

Ten year old Tania Abbey wants to make a difference in the world and create a better place to live for those less fortunate than she is.

When her much loved teacher, Ms. Flinders, tells her class about a march “Water for the World” to be held in town Tanya and her friend Emily want very much to be involved. However, Tanya’s parents are determined that she not only needs to do the right thing, it is equally important to do the right thing for the right reasons. This is when Tania and her family’s adventures really begin.

Water or Goo by Penny Reeve is a short story aimed at children in middle primary age group and promotes Christian principles, behavioural integrity, a social conscience and thinking outside the square for young readers. DS

(2)
This excellent book is positive and entertaining.
Bookseller’s Choice – reviewer CALEB Prize

(3)
This is a “first chapter book” (where children first learn to read books in chapters). It is an exciting and fun to read story about a young girl who strives to make a difference in her world by helping to educate people about the importance of the world’s population having clean water to drink. The Christian message is prevalent without being “in your face” and this book will certainly cause its readers to yearn for and seek other titles in the series and by this author. WN

(4)
I enjoyed the subject content that third world countries don’t have clean water to drink, and that there is a need for money to set up new wells in these countries. I didn’t understand why a “visitor” to Sam and Emily’s home finally got the plumber out, as there was already a problem. Why wasn’t he called earlier? Also, I found the idea that ethnic people have plumbing problems and live in dirty houses a bit racist.

Bookseller’s Choice – reviewer CALEB Prize

[Liberty · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I Like: There's a lot of good things in this book. Exposing kids--especially American kids who really have no knowledge of what's going on outside their little suburban home--to problems in other areas of the world is great. The initial premise for the water march is the drought in Australia, which, as I mentioned, was an ongoing problem down under when this book was published. But Tania's focus quickly goes from Australia's problems to those in the third world. A girl named Shanti in India is predominantly featured in the book, and I presume she was the subject of an earlier book because she's referred to quite frequently, with Tania wondering how Shanti survives with dirty water, or how she carries multiple vessels of water a long distance to her home daily.

This book offers some possible solutions to the dirty water problem. At the tail end of the book, there's an author's note which provides some additional information about how to help others get clean water, although they're primarily for UK and Australian youth. If, after your child reads this book, they feel moved to help, I would personally urge you to look into the organization "Wells for Life," which is an organization that helps bring new wells to areas of the world in desperate need of clean water. But this is just one of many American organizations bringing clean water sources to the third world.

What I Dislike: Story-wise, there's not much I don't like about this book. The religious content is minimal, but present, so the minimal part would be my only gripe. As a writer, though, I did find the writing a little choppy, but that probably won't bother anyone but the most aware of readers.

FULL REVIEW at Christian Children's Book Review.

[Susan Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Water of goo by Penny Reeve is a fun book for primary school children about the availability of clean water. The main character, Tania, is a likeable girl whose enthusiasm sometimes gets her into trouble but she is a follower of Jesus with a good heart. Tania’s teacher encourages her to be involved in the ‘Water for the World’ march and initially Tania decides to get involved to impress her teacher. However her desire to serve Jesus, along with her contact with her Indian friend, Shanti, plus an embarrassing incident with a blocked toilet convince her of the value of the project.

This is an encouraging book for children to teach them that they can make a contribution and make a difference in their world