Waters

Kelly L. Green is co-author of The Ethical Shopper’s Guide to Canadian
Supermarket Products and associate editor of the Canadian Book Review
Annual.

This deceptively simple book combines Edith Newlin Chase’s rolling
poetry with the disconcertingly realistic three-dimensional paper
sculpture illustrations of Ron Broda.

Chase’s exquisite poem about water, which flows all the way from a
tinkling brook to the “splashing waves forever rolling in the great
wide sea,” is rhythmic enough for a small child to memorize, and
haunting enough to enchant child and adult. The care with which Broda
has illustrated the spirit as well as the substance of the poem is
awe-inspiring. A note at the back of the book informs the reader that in
the illustrations one can identify more than 60 indigenous Canadian
animal species, from snowshoe hare to brook trout, as well as a flower
for every province and territory. It is tremendous fun finding them.

What greater praise can one give a book of fewer than 75 words than to
say that, once discovered, it will be read, reread, and pored over again
and again. Highly recommended.