Claudia Mills, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
This attractive, slim volume contains 19 poems celebrating the wonders of water, printed on each page in blue ink, paired with So's lovely blue-hued watercolor drawings. Almost every poem offers some arresting image or striking turn of phrase or memorable new way of viewing the world of wetness. In "Wells," Grandma tells the reader, "Learn to love/ the heft of the bucket/ in your hands,/ the weight of the cool jar/ on your head," concluding, "Only then will you never squander/ what is not yours to own." In "The Moon's Gravity," the dry moon tries to tug at the earth's oceans, "as if she could draw them up/ to fill her vast dusty seas." The poem "Meandering" explores why water loves "the curve/ the bend/ the zigzag/ the swerve." And in "Babbling Brook," Singer wishes that, if only her tongue were "a bit less bookish," she could converse with a brook "in Brookish." The collection as a whole issues an invitation for children to write their own poems about water and could also provide a curricular bridge between a science unit on water and a language arts unit on poetry--and most of all should be savored in its own right. 2003, Alfred Knopf, $14.95. Ages all.

Mary Quattlebaum (Children's Literature)
Make a splash during National Poetry Month with Marilyn Singer's How to Cross a Pond. These 19 poems beautifully limn the many forms of water, from the delicate "diamond necklaces of dew" in "Dress-Up" to the majestic sea's "dream of deep" in "Ocean Checklist." By turns playful and reflective, the poems encourage young readers to become more aware and appreciative of this amazing gift of Nature. Meilo So's paintings are as fluid as the poems' subject. Rendered in blue ink, her lively lines and soft washes convey the look and many moods of this "commander of meander," as Singer dubs the wet stuff in one poem. 2003, Knopf/Random House, $14.95. Ages 6 up.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2003 (Vol. 71, No. 13))
The team behind Footprints on the Roof (2002) returns to present another slim, elemental celebration. Poems on such subjects as "Spring in the Garden" and "Water Guns" seek to explore many different aspects of water, inviting readers to muse on the mountain origins of a fire hydrant or the many ways to cross a pond. It is an uneven collection, occasionally settling for the cute wordplay that seems to have become the standard in children's poetry, but it can also soar. A blossom in a "Rain Forest" becomes a pond to its amphibious denizens; a grandmother's memories of bringing water from "Wells" become almost tactile. And at its most breathtaking, it imagines the sadness of the "dry moon / tugging at the earth's oceans / as if she could draw them up / to fill her vast dusty seas." So's illustrations are appropriately enough rendered in washy blue ink, her naturally liquid style finding its apotheosis here. The typography, too, is rendered in blue ink, for a total design that barely escapes preciosity. Take it for its frequently splendid parts, not its whole. 2003, Knopf, $14.95. Category: Poetry. Ages 8 to 12. © 2003 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October 2003 (Vol. 57, No. 2))
In this followup to Footprints on the Roof: Poems about the Earth (BCCB 7/02), Singer presents nineteen playful, poetic musings about the doings of water. Verses (some free, some rhymed) examine water in large quantities ("Ocean Checklist"), water in human hands ("Water Guns"), water in solid state ("How to Cross a Pond"), water long gone ("The Moon’s Gravity"), and other driblets and sprays. The entries display a genuine and eloquently articulated appreciation of the element ("To appreciate water/ you must work for it,/ Pump, hoist, and haul"--"Wells") and also an obvious appreciation of the poetic medium ("Something in water loves/ the curve," begins "Meandering," in a gentle echo of the frozen-water poet, Frost), while remaining accessible to youthful readers. Like the first title, this is elegantly designed, with both type and illustrations a monochromatic blue on creamy, vertically oriented pages; So’s watercolors employ splashes, washes, liquid flourishes, and feathery scribbles, displaying a remarkable variety of textures and effects within the constraints of color and medium. This would be an intriguing addition to earth science or ecological explorations, and thirsty poetry readers will gulp it down. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2003, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2003, Knopf, 41p, $16.99 and $14.95. Grades 5-9.