PITTER AND PATTER

Startlingly realistic artwork takes readers through the water cycle.

Pitter and Patter are two water droplets that fall as rain. Pitter hits an oak leaf, drips into a stream, flows through the valley to a river, through a wetland and to the ocean. Patter lands in a meadow, percolating through the soil to an underground cave’s stream and flowing into a river that meets the sea, where the two drops are reunited before a wave tosses them; they get “warmer…and lighter” until they rejoin the cloud. As the drops travel through their respective watersheds, they greet the animals they meet in each habitat. “Hello crab. / So nice to meet you, shrimp. / A happy day to you, heron.” Four pages of backmatter explain the water cycle in more detail, using solid science vocabulary and labeled diagrams. The whole package is rounded out with several activities that will bring the water cycle home to readers. But what most stands out is Morrison’s gorgeous artwork. Full-page spreads show a slice of each habitat and close-up, realistic portraits of three animals (however unrealistic it might be to see them all in such close proximity): blue jay, squirrel, crayfish, trout, cricket, bat, jellyfish, bee, etc.

An unusually striking glance at the water cycle.