Dancing with Water
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- USD 8.99
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- USD 8.99
Publisher Description
An intergenerational story about a nonbinary child who learns the tradition of well digging in this picture book about community, hope, and protecting the Earth’s water.
As soon as Kit’s old enough to ride in Grandpa's truck, they begin joining him to dig wells for their community. Grandpa is magic. He can feel the weather in his bones, and he’s able to dance with water. With just a tree branch in his hand, Grandpa sways and spins over the land until he finds a spot to dig a hole into the waiting earth. When the water springs up, Grandpa and Kit jump for joy.
As new hotels and factories pop up across town, clean water becomes harder to find. Sometimes, no water flows at all. Kit is sad for Grandpa—and for Earth. But one day, Grandpa senses that Kit is ready to dance with water too. Grandpa reminds Kit that the energy and strength of their people flows through the water. As they wait and watch for fresh, clear water to flow up from the ground again, Kit recognizes the power shared between themself and Earth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Wallace (Joy Takes Root) and Engel (Yaya and the Sea) effervescently detail the traditional practice of water dowsing in this conscientious picture book. With naught but a tree branch, Kit's grandfather can find clean, potable water underground, and he drills wells for community members' basic water-based necessities. As Kit watches from Grandpa's truck, the man dances "over the land,/ swaying and spinning/ and swinging his branch" to find water. Then he digs, waits, and dances "in rhythm" with it. How does he do it? "Someone has to listen to the water," he says, winking. Lately, though, pollution created by those who want "more from Earth without listening" means that clean water is more difficult to find, and sometimes doesn't emerge from the ground at all. When Kit, discouraged, wants to stay home one day, their grandfather plants them on his shoulders and teaches them to listen to the water, too. Fluid imagery recurs throughout stylized acrylic underpainting and oil glazed scenes that demonstrate the importance of water to all life, and Kit's grandfather's ability to engage with the natural world. An author's note concludes. Ages 4–8. Author's agent: Wendi Gu, GreenburgerKids. Illustrator's agent: Gail Gaynin, Morgan Gaynin Agency.
