Splish Splash
by Joan Bransfield Graham, illustrated by Steven M. ScottI mentioned we were studying water a few weeks ago. One of the books I found at the library was this book of water poetry. Though First Daughter complained when I first started reading it (because she wanted me to read a different book), all the kids were gathered around me by the end. That's a sign of a great book, one that literally draws children in.
In this book of concrete poetry, the properties of water are displayed visually in the poems. The illustrations are integral to the poetry. First Daughter's favorite poem was "Popsicle" which is a delight to read aloud. The words, of course, are in the shape of a popsicle. "Sprinkler" was another favorite with the words shooting up into the air like water from a sprinkler.
The poems cover a multitude of watery topics like clouds, bodies of water, physical states of water, evaporation, and condensation. You would not be able to use them as a science text, but I think the poems would be great fun for children to read after learning about some of the topics, as we did.
