Review Detail

Thank you to Margarita Engle and Simon and Schuster for a copy of Water Day. I don't get many chances to review childrens' books and love to do so.
The drawings in Water Day are so colorful and incorporate many day to say scenes in a town where water must be delivered. The author later explains that water is often delivered every five days in places that do not have fresh water available - ie Trinidad de Cuba, Nepal, etc. This book does a wonderful job of explaining that "water is hope" and how important water is to a household for drinking, bathing, cooking, cleaning, gardening and flushing. She also explains how the water man (who brings the water) and the fish lady (who brings the mosquito fish that eat the mosquito larvae in the water to keep it fresh) are viewed as heroes.
I know this book will come as a shock to many children who are used to turning on a faucet, flushing a toilet, etc and who don't really have to give fresh water a second thought since it's so available to them.
The drawings by Olivia Sua are beautifully done in what looks like crayons or paint and very much how a child would see a neighborhood. The colors are beautiful and I'm happy to see many people used to portray family members and neighbors.