Water Week 2010

May 1st - 8th

Library Program

Kids Books

The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks
A Drop of Water, A Book of Science and Wonder
The Snowflake, A Water Cycle Story
One Well The Story of Water on Earth
A Cool Drink of Water
The Water Hole

Other Books
Last Oasis Facing Water Scarcity
Tapped Out, The Coming World Crisis in Water and What We Can Do About It
When the Rivers Run Dry

The Book for 2010 to be donated to the libraries

The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks
By Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen

Some class trip! While other kids go to the zoo or even the circus, Ms. Frizzle's class boards a school bus for the waterworks. And to make matters worse, "The Friz" herself is driving! How embarrassing... But it is soon apparent that this is no ordinary class trip. The school bus suddenly leaves the ground! Ms. Frizzle parks it on a cloud, and everyone (even "The Friz") shrinks to raindrop size. Then the whole class begins to rain into a mountain stream below. Ms. Frizzle's class is seeing the waterworks from the water's point of view! Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen combine their special talents to bring this extraordinary trip to life. By blending zany humor with basic science information, they provide a fresh and entertaining approach to discovering the world around us.

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Books Considered for Future Water Weeks

A Drop of Water, A Book of Science and Wonder
By: Walter Wick

The most spectacular photographs ever created on the subject of water appear in this unique science book by Walter Wick. The camera stops the action and magnifies it so that all the amazing states of water can be observed - water as ice, rainbow, stream, frost, dew. Readers can examine a drop of water as it falls from a faucet, see a drop of water as it splashes on a hard surface, count the points of an actual snowflake, and contemplate how drops of water form clouds.

The photographer Walter Wick (of I Spy fame, and who has had photos published in magazines such as Newsweek, Discover, and Psychology Today) has filled this book with beautiful, and technically impressive pictures of water. It is a book for the young scientific observer, who wants to learn all about water's properties in its various (gaseous, liquid, solid) states, and about its interactions with other substances (light, for example). Wick himself is intrigued by old science books, primarily those written for children about 100 years ago, and many of the experiments that he suggests in this book are modifications of experiments found in those books. For example, he describes how to experiment with minimal surfaces (by dipping wire frames in to soap bubble solutions), and how to produce your own rainbow (using a glass of water in a sunny window). This book should provide specific ideas to teachers of young (ages about 3 to 6) children; the experiments are short (in terms of the time needed), and don't require any equipment that can't be found in the average house or daycare center.

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The Snowflake, A Water Cycle Story
By: Neil Waldman

This is the story of a snowflake that drifts out of the sky one cold January day. In February the snowflake is carried up by a gust of wind and deposited on a pond where it freezes. In March the pond thaws and the snowflake turns into a droplet of water. The droplet now begins an incredible journey. Through an underground stream it goes with millions of other little water droplets. Then it bubbles up into an “icy spring” and into a stream. The stream grows into a river flowing past villages and cities. In May the droplet is sucked into a pipe and it is used to water a field of cabbages. From this field the droplet evaporates up into the air to become a cloud. Where will the droplet go next? In this beautifully illustrated picture book children will discover that the water that they drink, wash in, and play in is part of an extraordinary cycle which repeats itself over and over. From a cloud to the land, from the mountains to the ocean children will experience water is all its forms and they will come to realize that the water that it so much a part of their life is recycled again and again, year after year.

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One Well The Story of Water on Earth
By Rochelle Strauss and Rosemary Woods

Looking at all the water on Earth—in the atmosphere, the oceans, lakes, ponds, rivers, and rain as "One Well" into which all life dips to survive—Strauss presents a timely discussion of the use and abuse of a not-so-limitless resource. Liberally sprinkled with interesting facts—"It took about 130 L (34 U.S. gal.) of water to make your bike"—the readable text informs children of growing demands on a finite supply; increasing pollution; and the intensifying urgency for the conservation, preservation, and protection of a unique chemical combination more essential to all life than the air we breathe. Woods's delicate paintings keep perfect step and provide a gentle framework for the plentiful statistical snippets. Included is a section for children on "Becoming Well Aware," and notes for adults about helping youngsters (and themselves) to consider the quality and quantity of the water passing through their lives. Oversized, slim, and with an interesting slant.

Seen from space, our planet looks blue. This is because almost 70 percent of Earth’s surface is covered with water. Earth is the only planet with liquid water — and therefore the only planet that can support life. All water is connected. Every raindrop, lake, underground river and glacier is part of a single global well. Water has the power to change everything — a single splash can sprout a seed, quench a thirst, provide a habitat, generate energy and sustain life. How we treat the water in the well will affect every species on the planet, now and for years to come. One Well shows how every one of us has the power to conserve and protect our global well. One Well is part of CitizenKid: A collection of books that inform children about the world and inspire them to be better global citizens.

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Books We Have Donated In The Past:

A Cool Drink of Water by Barbara Kerley

Gorgeous full-page illustrations and minimal text give global perspective to the idea that water is basic to all human life. Photos depict people collecting, transporting, and drinking the liquid while the poetic text reminds readers that "Everyone/Everywhere" enjoys "A nice, cool drink of water.". There is also a statement on water conservation from the president and CEO of the National Geographic Society. This book is enjoyable to browse and a stunning introduction to a unit on water.

Book Description: An Italian boy sips from a fountain in the town square. A hiker takes a refreshing drink from a mountain stream. Black-robed women in India stride gracefully through a field with brass water jugs balanced on their heads. Whether they squeeze it out of a burlap bag, haul it home from a communal tap, or get it out of their kitchen faucet, people all around the world are unified by their common need for water. Barbara Kerley brings home this point simply and eloquently in this beautiful picture book that combines striking National Geographic photographs with a poetic text to show how people in various cultures use and conserve this vital resource. To purchase this book or for more information click here.

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The Water Hole by Graeme Base

Successive spreads introduce a growing number of animals (from one rhino to 10 kangaroos) at a water hole which, as viewed through die-cut ovals of progressively decreasing size, becomes smaller with each turn of the page. Though the animals disappear when the water hole dries up, rain eventually falls and the earth springs back to life. Base's final panorama reveals all the species gathered peacefully at one much larger water hole, bringing his story to a hopeful close.

Book Description: Who can resist the allure of the hidden wilderness water hole? Certainly not one rhino. Not two tigers. Nor three toucans. Pretty soon the delicious pool is drawing moose, catfish, pandas, tortoises... and more than 100 other critters from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and beyond. But is it our imagination or is that rhino-sized water hole dwindling to a mere shadow of its former self, a puddle not fit for eight ladybugs, let alone 10 kangaroos? As the seasons change across the world, and the animals get thirstier, the water supply diminishes. Eventually, even the flowery-shirted frog that has stoically lingered through the drought packs his suitcase and takes off. The only hope now is a drop of rain on the parched earth... to purchase this book or for more information click here.

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Tapped Out, The Coming World Crisis in Water and What We Can Do About It by Dr. Paul Simon, former United States Senator

Simon, a former Democratic senator from Illinois, delivers a call-to-arms to citizens and political leaders to act to save the world's water supply. "Within a few years," he writes, "a water crisis of catastrophic proportions will explode on us." Simon is a clear and forceful writer who makes use of compelling statistics to outline the looming crisis: 9500 children die every day due to thirst or polluted water and a projected three billion people will be living in regions afflicted by severe water shortages in just 25 years. Among the most immediate problems Simon covers are vanishing groundwater reserves in California, polluted drinking water in India and the potential for geopolitical violence in the arid Middle East. Simon urges governments to step up their support for desalination, conservation and pollution control. He also calls for policy changes such as charging consumers for the actual cost of conveying their water.

Book Description: Increasing world population, dwindling freshwater supply, and pollution damage to existing water supplies may result in a world crisis in water, according to author Paul Simon. Unless we act quickly, the former Illinois senator argues, our future could be marked by the misery of worldwide water shortages and resource wars. Simon likely came to an understanding of the issue through his interest in the problems of world hunger and population, and also through his work in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. There he was able to speak with foreign leaders about the issues of water and the environment and their impact on nations. Through his travels, he and his colleagues, like Senator Reid of Nevada, were able to see firsthand the effects of water shortages on populations and the environmental results of water misuse. In this book, the author reviews the material relating to these issues (as published in the organizational reports, law journals and popular media of the day) and ties them in with his own views.

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When the Rivers Run Dry, Water - The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century
By: Fred Pearce

It was with the Colorado River that engineers first learned to control great rivers. But now the Colorados reservoirs are two-thirds empty. Great rivers like the Indus and the Nile, the Rio Grande and the Yellow River are running on empty. And economists say that by 2025, water scarcity will cut global food production by more than the current U.S. grain harvest. Veteran science correspondent Fred Pearce traveled to more than thirty countries while researching When the Rivers Run Dry; it is our most complete portrait yet of the growing world water crisis. Deftly weaving together the complicated scientific, economic, and historical dimensions of the crisis, he shows us its complex origins, from waste towrong-headed engineering projects to high-yield crop varieties that have kept developing countries from starvation but are now emptying their water reserves. And Pearces vivid reportage reveals the personal stories behind failing rivers, barren fields, desertification, water wars, floods, and even the death of cultures. Finally, Pearce argues that the solution to the growing worldwide water shortage is not more and bigger dams but greater efficiency and a new water ethic based on managing the water cycle for maximum social benefit rather than narrow self-interest.

Veteran science writer Pearce (Turning Up the Heat) makes a strong—and scary—case that a worldwide water shortage is the most fearful looming environmental crisis. With a drumbeat of facts both horrific (thousands of wells in India and Bangladesh are poisoned by fluoride and arsenic) and fascinating (it takes 20 tons of water to make one pound of coffee), the former New Scientist news editor documents a "kind of cataclysm" already affecting many of the world's great rivers. The Rio Grande is drying up before it reaches the Gulf of Mexico; the Nile has been dammed to a trickle; reservoirs behind ill-conceived dams sacrifice millions of gallons of water to evaporation, while wetlands and floodplains downriver dry up as water flow dwindles. In India, villagers lacking access to clean water for irrigation and drinking are sinking tube wells hundreds of feet down, plundering underground supplies far faster than rainfall can replace them—the same fate facing the Ogallala aquifer of the American Midwest. The news, recounted with a scientist's relentless accumulation of observable fact, is grim. Maps.

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Last Oasis Facing Water Scarcity
By: Sandra Postel

As we approach the twenty-first century, we are entering a new era-an era of water scarcity. We have taken for granted seemingly endless supplies of water flowing from reservoirs wells, and diversion projects; access to water has been key to food security, industrialization, and the growth of cities. In this book from the Worldwatch Institute, Sandra Postel explains that decades of profligacy and mismanagement of the world's water resources have produced signs of shortages and environmental destruction. She writes with authority and clarity of the limits-ecological, economic, and political-of this vital natural resource. She explores the potential for conflict over water between nations, and between urban and rural residents. And she offers a sensible way out of such struggles. Last Oasis makes clear that the technologies and know-how exist to increase the productivity of every liter of water. But citizens must first understand the issues and insist on policies, laws, and institutions that promote the sustainable use of water.

Imagine America going to war over water. Don't think it will ever happen? Think again. Water scarcity is a real problem, one which is growing exponentially. The fact that water seems so readily available and inexpensive (the "illusion of plenty" as the author states it), and people's overuse and lack of respect towards this life-sustaining resource are only some of the causes for the water crisis. Sandra Postel has written a stunning account which discloses the atrocious amount of neglect and mismanagement of water. Fortunately, there are solutions which offer hope for restoring and sustaining our essential lifeline, all of which are economically and environmentally friendly. Last Oasis is a red flag to farmers, industry and families, warning us that if the alternatives are not enacted, we are, most assuredly, destined for a worldwide crisis.

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