Review by Booklist Review
Ages 4-6. Quiet, rhymed text featuring a few simple lines per page takes the reader through each step of the water cycle, from ocean to atmosphere, to clouds and rain, to the land, to streams, and back to the ocean. Blending perfectly with the text are the bright, eye-catching illustrations on double-page spreads. The surreal montages of crisp photographs demonstrate the concepts effectively, occasionally using visual jokes. (Some birds, a sea horse, and a Tyrannosaurus rex carry tiny umbrellas; the night sky is filled with golden starfish.) Even details such as the colors of the words in the text are artfully arranged. A subtle, well-crafted introduction for young children to a complex subject. --Todd Morning
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Using the same approach as with her This Is the Sunflower, Schaefer celebrates the earth's waters. "This is the ocean/ blue and vast,/ that holds the rainwater from the past." The accompanying illustration depicts a night sky filled with starfish above a turquoise expanse of ocean. While keeping the vocabulary simple, the author conjures up vivid images of how water continually replenishes the planet by falling, flowing and vaporizing. Water makes "puddles,/ big and round,/ that dot the land, muddy wet ground"; it forms "clouds low and gray,/ full of vapor, moist and light." Wattenberg's full-bleed photo collages, used so effectively in her Henny Penny, here depict stunning natural images: a single sunflower stands sentry-like in a vast, gold-splashed meadow; a school of emerald fish seem to be airborne at the base of a waterfall; a gray cloud oozes over a seashore. And there's a soupcon of sly jokes as well Wattenberg has a fondness for sneaking dinosaurs into her ocean scenes, and the final montage sports umbrella-toting birds and seahorses. Her layer upon layer of photo images creates a giddy visual landscape that is simultaneously ironic and iconic. Ages 4-up. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-A poetic text explains the water cycle. "This is the ocean,/blue and vast,/that holds the rainwater from the past./This is the sunshine,/hot and bright,/that warms the ocean,/blue and vast,-." The cumulative verse seems appropriate for the repetitive elements of the cycle. Schaefer maintains the rhythm throughout, even when the pattern is interrupted to follow the rain running into rivers and into the sea and then picks up with the sunshine, "hot and bright,/that makes the vapor, moist and light,/that fills the clouds, low and gray,/that bring rain/somewhere/ every day." The illustrations are interesting photographs and original images of clouds; rushing creeks; and a variety of plants, fish, and other wildlife collaged on the computer using Adobe Photoshop. The book would be best used along with demonstrations or a more straightforward description of the process of water evaporation and condensation. However, it makes a good supplement for developing a sense of wonder and appreciation of the importance of water to our planet.-Adele Greenlee, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
The water cycle is depicted in cumulative rhymed verse and illustrations that combine photographs with digitally generated effects. The result is a marriage of topic and image that work, but not consistently. The jarring nature of the mixed-media illustrations draws attention from the occasionally awkward text. From HORN BOOK Spring 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
"This is the ocean, / blue and vast, / that holds the rainwater from the past." And this is the irresistible refrain of a stunning picture book on the water cycle, written as an innovation on the "This Is the House that Jack Built" pattern of cumulative text, which Schaefer used similarly in This Is the Sunflower (2000). Her rhyming storyline builds with a rhythm as steady as rain on a rooftop, following the cycle of water transformations and adding another element to the text with each refrain. Wattenberg's (Henny-Penny, 2000, etc.) glowing photographic collage illustrations feature an azure sea and a radiant golden-yellow sky with photos of real storm clouds or a black night sky with starfish stars. Her version of the vast, ancient ocean teems with fish, shells, treasure chests, and muted images of dinosaurs of ages past. Schaefer and Wattenberg have created the essential water-cycle title for younger children, imparting solid scientific information (we'll forgive the underwater dinosaurs) with memorable text and stunning art. Librarians will want this for story hours with water or rain themes; teachers will want it for water-cycle studies; and kids will want it for its clever rhymes, striking art, and mysterious sunken dinosaurs. As essential to library collections as rain is to summer sunflowers. (Picture book. 4-8)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
