Book Review: Water Rolls, Water Rises by Pat Mora

General Information

Title: Water Rolls, Water Rises

Author: Pat Mora

Genre: Poetry

Publisher: Children's Book Press

Date of Publication: 2014

Illustrator: Meilo So

Lexile Level & Target Audience

Lexile: AD930L

Age Range: 7-10

Audience: boys or girls, science lovers, bilingual, Hispanic ethnicity

Brief Summary

Water Rolls, Water Rises is a bilingual book which flows in free verse poetry, describing the many forms of water––from rolling waves to gentle fog to winding rivers. These elegant descriptions appear in both English and Spanish, alongside gorgeous illustrations which represent the descriptions given. 

Evaluation: Pros & Cons

Pros:

1. Exquisite use of action verbs. Mora writes how water "weaves," "sails," "slithers and snakes," "hums," "sloshes," and "quenches," among others! These tangible verbs make the seemingly simple subject of water come alive, and also give students a superb example of a technique for their own writing.

2. Contains multicultural elements. With each page comes a new setting/culture in which water exists; these illustrations provide students with a wonderful opportunity to see people from a diverse range of race and culture, who are all connected by the common element of water.

Cons:

1. English, then Spanish. This subtle structure suggests that English is the "more important" language, which is unfortunate. However, in read-alouds of this text, teachers could choose to simply read the Spanish lines first.

[No other cons. This book is one of my all-time favorites now.]

Literary Elements

Poetry: Mora's free verse poetry glides effortlessly across the page, much like water itself might. Especially vivid lines include: "Swirling in wisps, water twists then it twirls" and "In storms, water plunges in thunder's brash roar."

Personification: Mora personifies water throughout the book, writing that, among other things, it "strokes an old cat," "sails high," "slithers and snakes," and "hums in the dark."

Alliteration: Examples of alliteration include: "cloud plumes curl," "twists then it twirls," "silence shimmers," "murmur of marsh wind," "frog feet," and "careening down cliffs."

Illustrations

So's breathtaking illustrations beautifully show what water is "doing" (according to the text) on each page. In addition, these images take readers to international destinations, including China, Holland, the Sahara, and Mexico.

Mini-lesson Idea(s)

This book provides students with a perfect opportunity to work on their personification skills. Students could ask the question: "What does [insert element of nature here] do?" They could choose from a provided list of natural elements or come up with one of their own. Along the way to answering this question, students could observe the techniques Mora uses to describe water, including poetry, alliteration, assonance, and action verbs.

Cheers!

- Aubrey