Water Water
by Jessica Bromley Bartram
Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2021
ISBN 978-1-55455-556-7 (hc)
$19.95, 29 pp, ages 6 – 13
fitzhenry.ca
Powerfully rich language paired with imagi- native and detailed illustrations make this book an asset to be used in any
grade 1 to 8 classroom as a read-aloud for the younger grades, an art study for the older grades, and a word study for the middle grades. The personifi- cation of the water and lake bring the reader into an intimate and enviable relationship between the young female protagonist and the water surround- ing a Georgian Bay island. Readers, familiar or unfamiliar with overnights by the water, will be captured by the intensity of the daytime lake experiences coupled with nighttime dream thoughts and ending with the post-storm calm of daytime water life. “…the lake drinking the sun’s sinking…”, “…the water is threaded with ribbons of cold…”, “…words weave through every trough and crest…” Bartram’s gift for poetic prose compels the reader to ebb and flow with the movement of the lake as they journey from cover to cover.
Classroom Connections: Great for reading aloud, for word and art studies and for making connections with science (underwater creatures), history (lake shipwrecks), and summer holiday (swimming and exploring). Reading Comprehension Strategies: Making Connections, Visualizing, Transforming.
Review by Amanda Forbes.
This review is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Fall 2021 issue.
