Nya's Long Walk: A Step at a Time

by Linda Sue Park, Brian Pinkney (Illustrator)

Overview

In this picture book companion to the beloved bestseller A Long Walk to Water, a young South Sudanese girl goes on a journey that requires determination, persistence, and compassion.

Young Nya takes little sister Akeer along on the two-hour walk to fetch water for the family. But Akeer becomes too ill to walk, and Nya faces the impossible: her sister and the full water vessel together are too heavy to carry.

As she struggles, she discovers that if she manages to take one step, then another, she can reach home and Mama’s care.

Bold, impressionistic paintings by Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Honor winner Brian Pinkney evoke the dry, barren landscape and the tenderness between the two sisters.

An afterword discusses the process of providing clean water in South Sudan to reduce waterborne illness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780358168492
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	09/03/2019
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	31 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Linda Sue Park, Newbery Medal winner for A Single Shard and #1 New York Times bestseller for A Long Walk to Water, is the renowned author of many books for young readers, including picture books, poetry, and historical and contemporary fiction. Born in Illinois, Ms. Park has also lived in California, England, and Ireland. She now lives in Western New York. Learn more at lindasuepark.com.

Brian Pinkney is a celebrated picture-book illustrator who has won two Caldecott Honors. His professional recognition includes the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award and three Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honors. He has collaborated with his wife, author Andrea Davis Pinkney, on several picture books including Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra and Sleeping Cutie. The Pinkneys live in Brooklyn, New York.

Editorial Reviews

06/03/2019

Newbery Medalist Park takes a character from her 2010 novel, A Long Walk to Water, and tells her story in a new format. Nya, a South Sudanese girl, must fetch water for her family from a distant well. Coretta Scott King Award–winner Pinkney paints Nya steadying her can with one hand and reaching for her younger sister Akeer with the other. On the way home, Akeer collapses, ill, and Nya must carry both her sibling and their water “at least half a morning’s walk” back home. Pinkney follows their intense journey across broad spreads, tracing the scrabbly vegetation with loose lines and the sand with swirls of sepia and gold. When she finally makes it home, Nya discovers that her ordeal isn’t over, and she must accompany Mama and Akeer to a clinic a couple of days’ walk away. In the end, the earlier book’s real-life hero, Salva Dut, drills a well for Nya’s community, lessening the occurrence of waterborne disease. With compassion, the creators present younger readers with a portrait of a life in which determination is needed just to get enough clean water to drink, a reality for many villagers in South Sudan. Ages 4–7. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Newbery medalist Park returns to the theme of her acclaimed novel A Long Walk to Water (2010), bringing a tender sensibility to this blend of fiction and reality that brings home the visceral fragility of living without access to fresh, clean water." — Booklist

"With compassion, the creators present younger readers with a portrait of a life in which determination is needed just to get enough clean water to drink, a reality for many villagers in South Sudan." — Publishers Weekly

 "Pinkney’s swirling watercolors aptly portray the open topography of South Sudan and depict both the hardships and closeness of this family....[This book] helps young readers understand the reali­ties of this water crisis and the solutions that have improved the quality of life for many." — Horn Book Magazine

"The illustrations beautifully capture life in a small South Sudanese village and earth-toned swirls create a lovely impression of dust and heat...A thought-provoking story to inspire ­empathy and social consciousness." — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

09/01/2019

Gr 1–4—Nya lives in a village in South Sudan without easy access to clean water. With her younger sister Akeer, she sets out on the long trek to the water hole. Akeer is unusually slow and out of temper. As Nya finally reaches the water, she realizes that her sister is frighteningly ill. Far from the village, Nya has no choice but to carry both the water and her sister to find help. The weight is a burden Nya can barely manage, but she fights through the fatigue with small goals—making it to a thorn bush and then a stump—anything to keep herself going. Nya demonstrates extraordinary strength and perseverance in the face of daunting challenges. The story concludes with Nya's family setting off in search of medical attention, which may feel like a cliff-hanger to some readers. However, an epilogue assures young readers of Akeer's recovery while also explaining the humanitarian efforts of a nonprofit organization called Water for South Sudan. This isn't the first time Nya's experiences have been put to the page. She was a feature character in the author's middle grade novel A Long Walk to Water. As this new picture book companion lacks the depth of detail included in the novel, younger children may benefit from additional discussion regarding the geography, culture, and socioeconomic conditions of South Sudan. Regardless, many children will realize (likely for the first time) that not all children have access to such basic necessities as clean drinking water. The illustrations beautifully capture life in a small South Sudanese village and earth-toned swirls create a lovely impression of dust and heat. VERDICT A thought-provoking story to inspire empathy and social consciousness.—Alyssa Annico, Youngstown State University, OH

School Library Journal

2019-06-23
Calamity strikes when two sisters take a trek outside of their village in South Sudan to fetch water in this picture-book adaptation of the bestselling A Long Walk to Water (2010).

Nya, the elder, notices that Akeer is becoming uncharacteristically tearful, then listless. On the titular long walk back, Nya realizes her sister is gravely ill and must struggle to carry both Akeer and the water, going step by step, landmark by landmark. When they return, Nya learns that Akeer must be taken to the clinic, a journey of two to three days on foot, because she "has the sickness that comes from drinking dirty water." Exhausted but determined, Nya sets off on the journey with her mother and sister—and that is where the story ends. The three pages that follow combine the fictional story of Nya and Akeer with the true story of Salva Dut and his organization, Water for South Sudan. It explains what's happened to Akeer and that clean-water wells eventually come to Nya's village, but it is not an adequate conclusion for this story that began so full of compassion, sacrifice, and love. Curious readers will wonder what the journey was like for the mother and her daughters and what Akeer felt as she recovered, but that is left to their imaginations. Pinkney's swirling brush strokes, dominated by brown, terra cotta, and gold, indicate the desert landscape, focusing on the children's tired, stoic faces.

Compelling characters in a story that's too short for them. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews