ANNOTATION

Presents the water cycle through the journey of a raindrop around the world, in sky, on land, underground, and in the sea, in its liquid, solid, and vapor forms, as it supports life everywhere.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A drop of rain is a drop of life - a drop of eternity. From steam to snow, from polluted to purified, from stratus cloud to subterranean crack, water links the world in a living flow. Barbara Shaw McKinney and illustrator Michael Maydak take us on an "out of sight" journey from Maine to Mumbai, with just one raindrop as it touches plant, animal and human life all around the world. Traveling with Drop, readers will see the world, inside and out, from solid, liquid and vaporous viewpoints. The everlasting, ever-changing Drop earns our respect for water and its unique role on Earth. Once you've met Drop, you can journey into the heart of nature every time it rains.

Author Biography: Barbara Shaw McKinney is a teacher as well as a poet. She was inspired to use the magic of children's literature to spark her students' curiosity about the wonders of water. She vowed to ``turn a drop of rain into a drop of life, astounding children by its eternity." Her sprightly verse elicits a ``water-wow!" in A Drop Around the World, her first book. She is also the author of Pass the Energy Please!, a wonderful exploration of nature's food chain, written in rhyming verse. From Manchester, Connecticut, McKinney draws on her experience as a mother, musician, and curriculum developer to promote quality education through workshops for teachers.

Author Biography: Michael S. Maydak is a professional artist whose love for wildlife provides the inspiration for his artwork. His passion for fly fishing, as well as his professional qualifications as an artist, make him a uniquely appropriate illustrator for A Drop Around the World Maydak, a resident of Cool, California, also illustrated Lifetimes for Dawn Publications

FROM THE CRITICS

Midwest Book Review

In A Drop Around the World, storyteller Barbara Shaw McKinney and illustrator Michael S. Maydak collaborate to take young readers ages 5 to 12 on a wondrous journey from Maine to Mumbai following just one raindrop as it touches plant, animal and human life all around the world. Traveling with Drop, readers will see the world, inside and out, from solid, liquid and vaporous viewpoints. The everlasting, ever-changing Drop inspires respect for water and its unique role on Earth. Imaginative and informative, A Drop Around the World is highly recommended for all young readers!

Green Teacher

Children will never view rain in the same way after reading this book. The story takes readers on a journey around the world with a single raindrop as it is transformed many times from liquid to its solid and vapor states. Composed in rhyming couplets, each stanza conveys scientific concepts about the water cycle, and events in the story are cross-referenced by symbols to a section which describes various properties of water. This excellent resource for ages 5 to 12 is accompanied by a 48-page teacher's guide that shows how to incorporate the book across the elementary curriculum as part of a six-week unit.

Children's Literature - Patricia Timbrook