ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
PICTURE BOOKS
Osada, Hiroshi

Almost Nothing, Yet Everything: A Book About Water

40 pp. | Enchanted Lion | October, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-1-59270-357-9 $17.95
(2) K-3 Translated by David Boyd. Illustrated by Ryôji Arai. An adult and child set off in a rowboat for an overnight camping trip in this author-illustrator team's (Every Color of Light, rev. 9/20) latest collaboration. Osada's poetic text is a series of phrases and riddles exploring everything water can be, from the profound ("It has no color, but can be any color. It has no shape, but can take any shape") to the playful ("It is the pee of life"). Arai's impressionistic illustrations, in bright shades of sky blue and spring green, move the story forward while giving form to Osada's observations. Some paintings focus on the concrete, such as a waterfall demonstrating how water "cascades and courses." Others match the text's fancifulness, as when the characters row on a sea of stars. The words and pictures together become the story of an older person imparting wisdom to a younger one as they explore the world together.
Reviewer: Adrienne L. Pettinelli | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

RELATED 

PICTURE BOOKS

Born Ready
by Patterson, Jodie
PICTURE BOOKS

The House of Grass and Sky
by Ray, Mary Lyn
PICTURE BOOKS

The Dog's Gardener
by Storms, Patricia
PICTURE BOOKS

And I Paint It
by Kephart, Beth
PICTURE BOOKS

Poem in My Pocket
by Tougas, Chris
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?