Water: Discovering the Precious Resource All Around Us

by Olga Fadeeva, Lena Traer (Translator)

Overview

“This browsable, superbly designed book is absorbing.” 
— Booklist (STARRED REVIEW)

“Wonderful . . . engaging detail . . . a beautiful addition to nonfiction collections looking for books on the subject, and those seeking more translated works.” 
— School Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)

Gorgeously illustrated, fact-filled nonfiction about water in rainstorms, the Great Lakes, the drip from our taps, around the world, and throughout history. 

Water is everywhere, and we rely on it every single day. But do you ever stop to wonder about it? 

How much water is on our planet? What happens when there is too much water or too little water? Why does it rain? What are lakes, rivers, seas, and oceans? Why are the seas and oceans blue and salty? What lives underwater? What about water in human history—how did people get water in ancient times? How do we get water today? What do humans build to travel on the water, and how have we harnessed waterpower? How do we protect this amazing resource for the future? 

Author-illustrator Olga Fadeeva answers these questions and much more in her vibrantly illustrated, fact-filled tour of water through science and history (with characters readers might recognize from Wind: Discovering Air in Motion). Translated from Russian by Lena Traer and part of Eerdmans’ Spectacular STEAM for Curious Readers series.

Awards

Booklist Top Ten Books on the Environment & Sustainability
The Nature Generation Green Earth Book Award Long List - Picture Book, Intermediate Readers 
School Library Journal Best Books
USBBY Outstanding International Books List 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802856227
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	04/09/2024
Series:	Spectacular STEAM for Curious Readers (SSCR)
Pages:	56
Product dimensions:	8.25(w) x 11.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1020L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 14 Years

About the Author

Olga Fadeeva is the author and illustrator of Water: Discovering the Precious Resource All Around Us, Wind: Discovering Air in Motion (Eerdmans), and many other books for children. Wind earned a starred review from Kirkus and was named a USSBY Outstanding International Book, and Water earned starred reviews from Booklist and School Library Journal. Olga’s art has been honored in Italy, China, and her home country of Russia. Follow Olga on Instagram @olgafadeeva_illustrations.


Lena Traer is a Russian- and English-language translator with a focus on books for children and young adults. She has translated Wind: Discovering Air in Motion, Water: Discovering the Precious Resource All Around Us, and On the Edge of the World (all Eerdmans) into English and has also translated a variety of picture books and scientific materials into Russian. Born and raised in Siberia, Russia, Lena now lives in San Francisco.

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal (starred review)
"This wonderful book answers all the possible questions one could ever have about water . . . engaging detail . . . vibrant illustrations . . . a beautiful addition to nonfiction collections looking for books on the subject, and those seeking more translated works."

Booklist (starred review)
"This browsable, superbly designed book is absorbing."

Kirkus Reviews
“A wellspring of facts and reflections about our watery world. . . . Almost as deep as it is wide.

From the Publisher

2024-01-20
A wellspring of facts and reflections about our watery world.

Following the drift of Wind (2023), Fadeeva places a lightly tan-skinned child dressed in an easily visible red shift in her flowing illustrations—nearly all done in blue-dominant hues. The little one plants a tree over deep layers of groundwater, boats down a river and through a flooded town, and otherwise leads young viewers into glimpses of some of the many ways we use and interact with water. Text translated from Russian and presented in a question-and-answer format offers a wealth of information on topics from the water cycle to why seas and oceans are salty (and why some are saltier than others). Fadeeva also considers water deities in select ancient cultures worldwide and explores human uses for water, such as bathing, commerce, undersea exploration, and freshwater delivery systems through history. Some of the questions encourage broader thoughts: “Why does it rain?” “What is life without water?” “What do humans think about water’s mysteries?” Though the power of water to shape lives and landforms comes through clearly, the author also sounds a cautionary note at the end about the threat that pollutants, particularly microplastics, pose not just to our oceans, but to our own well-being.

Almost as deep as it is wide. (Informational picture book. 7-9)

Kirkus Reviews