Our World of Water: Children and Water Around the World
Grade 3–5—Seven- and eight-year-olds share what water means to them by revealing their everyday uses of it. An opening spread introduces the children and their countries—Peru, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Tajikistan, Bangladesh, and the United States—on an outline world map. Locations vary from mountaintop to seaside and from scarcity to abundance. The youngsters describe their many water-related routines, such as hygiene, plant and animal care, and play, and include quotes from the youngsters. A third spread for each child is devoted to a special day, which might be a family outing or a holiday celebration. There is no order to the countries and the text is matter-of-fact, leaving readers to draw their own conclusions about the subjects' varying circumstances. Several full-color, captioned photos appear on each spread. Closing matter includes general information about water and the countries. Questions will inevitably arise from this revealing look at the status of water in the world. Accompany it with Rochelle Strauss'sOne Well: The Story of Water on Earth(Kids Can, 2007) for more detail.—Carol S. Surges, McKinley Elementary School, Wauwatosa, WICopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.