The water princess

Format:

Audio disc

Title:

The water princess

Author:

Verde, Susan author

ISBN:

9781338243536

9780399172588

9781338243567

Publication:

[Westport, CT] : Weston Woods ; [New York] : Scholastic, 2018.

Physical Description:

1 audio disc (approximately 23 min.) ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 volume (40 unnumbered pages ; color illustrations, 25 cm)

Series title(s):

Weston Woods read-along CD.

General Note:

Complete and unabridged.

Read-along book: The Water Princess /written by Susan Verde; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds; New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2016.

"Based on the childhood experience of Georgie Badiel."

Contents:

Track 1. Story with page-turn signals -- Track 2. Story without page-turn signals -- Track 3. Author's note read by Yetide Badaki -- Track 4. Interview with Georgie Badiel.

Summary:

The story of one young girl's quest to bring clean drinking water to her African village.

Personal Subject:

Badiel, Georgie-Interviews.

Subject(s):

Water-supply -- Juvenile fiction.

Black people -- Africa -- Juvenile fiction.

Africa -- Juvenile fiction.

Geographic Term:

Africa -- Juvenile fiction.

Africa.

Genre:

Children's audiobooks.

Added Author:

Badaki, Yetide, 1981-

Bacon, Michael, 1948-

Sissoko, Adjaratou, 1972-

Reynolds, Peter H. (Peter Hamilton), 1961-

Added Corporate Author:

Weston Woods Studios.

Scholastic Audiobooks.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Salem Main Library	JPR Verde	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stayton Public Library	JBC VERDE	Searching... Unknown

Based on supermodel Georgie Badiel's childhood, a young girl dreams of bringing clean drinking water to her African village

With its wide sky and warm earth, Princess Gie Gie's kingdom is a beautiful land. But clean drinking water is scarce in her small African village. And try as she might, Gie Gie cannot bring the water closer; she cannot make it run clearer. Every morning, she rises before the sun to make the long journey to the well. Instead of a crown, she wears a heavy pot on her head to collect the water. After the voyage home, after boiling the water to drink and clean with, Gie Gie thinks of the trip that tomorrow will bring. And she dreams. She dreams of a day when her village will have cool, crystal-clear water of its own.

Inspired by the childhood of African-born model Georgie Badiel, acclaimed author Susan Verde and award-winning author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds have come together to tell this moving story. As a child in Burkina Faso, Georgie and the other girls in her village had to walk for miles each day to collect water. This vibrant, engaging picture book sheds light on this struggle that continues all over the world today, instilling hope for a future when all children will have access to clean drinking water.

Author Notes

Susan Verde grew up in a brownstone in the heart of Greenwich Village. She spent much of her time as a child clad in bell bottoms and rainbow suspenders, roller skating up and down her block with a skate key around her neck and a piece of chalk in her pocket (for spontaneous hopscotch). Susan's love of literature began in utero (according to her mother) and never dwindled. She can, to this day, relate very well to Amelia Bedelia. After spending a number of years working as an elementary school teacher, Susan now writes and teaches kid's yoga in East Hampton, New York, where she lives amidst an explosion of Legos, art supplies, and picture books with her twin boys, Joshua and Gabriel, and her daughter, Sophia. They are the constant inspiration for her writing. They never let her forget how to see things from a child's point of view and keep the kid in her alive and kicking.

Georgie Badiel is a high-fashion model who hails from the landlocked country of Burkina Faso. After she won the title of Miss Africa in 2005, Georgie's profile continued to soar as she appeared on the runways of designers such as Oscar de la Renta, Louis Vuitton, and Diane Von Furstenberg and was featured in editorials for magazines including Russian Vogue , Essence, and Elle . The Water Princess is inspired by her childhood in her small village in Burkina Faso.

Peter H. Reynolds is an author and illustrator, as well as the founder of the educational media company FableVision. Reynolds is best known for his children's books about authentic learning, creativity, and self-expression. His picture books include The Dot , which has been published in over twenty languages, and the New York Times bestseller Someday by Alison McGhee. Reynolds lives in Dedham, Massachusetts, and is the co-owner of his family's book store, The Blue Bunny Bookstore.

Reviews (4)

School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 3-Before the sun rises, Princess Gie Gie wakes to trek through her dry kingdom, under the wide sky, an unnamed African setting, to collect water with her mother. They make the long journey to the well, balancing on their heads the large pots used to collect the water. The line for the well is long, made up of other mothers and daughters, some of whom have walked even farther than Gie Gie and her mother. The water must be boiled in order to be used for drinking, preparing food, and washing clothes. When Gie Gie finally has a cool sip of the water, she wishes it weren't so far away. She must rest before making the trip again the next morning. The animation brings Gie Gie and the beautiful landscape around her to life. The narration by Yetide Badaki is perfectly matched by the moving score. A description option for viewers with low vision and a conversation with fashion model Georgie Badiel, whose childhood experiences in Burkina Faso inspired the narrative, accompany the story. VERDICT A breathtaking animated rendition of Susan Verde and Badiel's 2016 picture book, perfect for units focusing on conservation and the environment.-Selenia Paz, Harris County Public Library, Houston, TX © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

In a stirring, thought-provoking story based on the childhood of model Georgie Badiel in Burkina Faso, Verde and Reynolds follow a girl and her mother as they retrieve water for the family's use. Reynolds (whose previous books with Verde include I Am Yoga and The Museum) uses sumptuous violets and golds for the expansive African night sky and grassy plains-both of which young Gie Gie, a self-described princess with a wiry physique and beads in her braided hair, considers to be her domain. Gie Gie claims she can "tame the wild dogs with my song" and "make the wind play hide-and-seek," but summoning clean, readily accessible water is beyond her ability. Verde's poetic language reflects the length and difficulty of Gie Gie and her mother's trek, along with the positive spirit the girl brings to the task. Toward the end, the implicit injustice of the situation is addressed directly: "Maman," Gie Gie asks, "Why is the water so far? Why is the water not clear? Where is our water?" They are questions that readers will want answered, too. Ages 5-8. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Horn Book Review

A dreamy, imaginative girl in Burkina Faso (the birthplace of fashion model and clean-water advocate Badiel) must journey far with her mother to get water every day. North American children may be surprised by this great need, and Verde's lyrical text may inspire young activists to help. Reynolds's art in dry tans capture Gie Gie's energy as she finds joy in her difficult life. Author's note appended. (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Verde joins Badiel (fashion model and clean-drinking-water activist) to create a story based on Badiel's childhood experiences in Burkina Faso, one of many African countries where women walk miles every day to fetch water. In it, the fictional protagonist Princess Gie Gie and her mother set off for the river before dawn, and they return at dusk. Gie Gie's frustration is evident at first, but it soon dissipates in the romance of the walk with her mother. They sing and laugh and dance, bathed in the golden glow of Reynolds' charming rendition of sunlight on a vast, empty African plain. Gie Gie's questions about her village's lack of water are unanswered, but her day ends with a dream of one day bringing water to her kingdom. Rich purple and tawny hues create an evocative backdrop to the story, while the friendly font softens the exhausting, arduous nature of fetching water. Readers are left to wonder if the power of dreaming can change reality, and inquisitive ones might be moved to look up the true story on Badiel's website.--Chaudhri, Amina Copyright 2016 Booklist