The Water Lady: How Darlene Arviso Helps a Thirsty Navajo Nation

Product Description
This inspiring picture book tells the true story of a woman who brings desperately needed water to families on the Navajo reservation every day.
Underneath the New Mexico sky, a Navajo boy named Cody finds that his family's barrels of water are empty. He checks the chicken coop-- nothing. He walks down the road to the horses' watering hole. Dry. Meanwhile, a few miles away, Darlene Arviso drives a school bus and picks up students for school. After dropping them off, she heads to another job: she drives her big yellow tanker truck to the water tower, fills it with three thousand gallons of water, and returns to the reservation, bringing water to Cody's family, and many, many others. Here is the incredible and inspiring true story of a Native American woman who continuously gives back to her community and celebrates her people.
From School Library Journal
Gr 1–4—Cody, a Navajo boy, wakes up thirsty, and there is no water in the kitchen, where his mother has just made oatmeal, or in any of the big blue containers outside his home. There is no water for him, or the horses, or the chickens. A few miles down the road, Darlene Arviso's trailer does have running water, but other Navajo people do not. "Many families on the reservation do not—no gushing showers, no flushing toilets, no flowing sinks." Darlene fills the tank of her large yellow truck with 3,000 gallons of water to deliver to 10 families that day, and one of them is Cody's. She repeats this every day just as her ancestors helped their neighbors. There is no child listening who will not feel just as thirsty as Cody and be just as relieved when Darlene's truck rolls into sight. McGinty's storytelling, peppered with Navajo phrases and cultural cues, provides a balanced view of this life and through Cody's perspective, just enough suspense. An author's note rounds out the discussion and explains Darlene's role not only as the Water Lady, but as bearer of news, social connections, and other threads of community life. Begay's watercolors show a parched landscape full of desert beauty, but also the concern on thirsty Cody's face, and his mother's knowing smile that all will be right. VERDICT With more resources at the back, this is a must-have for every collection and a sure path to children wanting to know more about water management in the Navajo Nation and elsewhere.—Kimberly Olson Fakih, School Library Journal
Review
Praise for
The Water Lady:“This quiet yet touching story will open young readers’ eyes in a multitude of ways.” —
Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“McGinty’s storytelling, peppered with Navajo phrases and cultural cues, provides a balanced view of this life and through Cody’s perspective, just enough suspense.” —
School Library Journal, starred review
"[An] illuminating story about a contemporary child’s experience with water insecurity, set in the Navajo Nation.” —
The Horn Book
“Navajo artist Begay’s vibrant ink and watercolor art brings a stirring emotional undercurrent to this community-oriented narrative.” —
Publishers Weekly
Praise for Alice McGinty's
The Girl Who Named Pluto:
"An inspiring and beautifully illustrated tale made all the better by its historical foundation." —
Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
About the Author
ALICE McGINTY is the award-winning author of over forty books for children, including
A Story for Small Bear, as well as
The Girl Who Named Pluto, which was called "inspiring" in a
Kirkus starred review. She also wrote
Darwin, an Orbis Pictus Honor Book and one of Booklist's Top 10 Biographies for Youth, which received three starred reviews. Her picture book,
Rabbi Benjamin's Buttons, was named a Sydney Taylor Notable Book. She also runs a writing camp for kids, Words on Fire. Visit her on the web at alicebmcginty.com or follow her on Twitter @AliceBMcGinty.
Shonto Begay is the illustrator of several picture books, including
The Mud Pony,
The Magic of Spider Woman, an