Teaching the water cycle at school can be rather a dry subject (excuse the bad joke), but these two gorgeous picture books should help make the whole experience a little more enjoyable!

Once Upon a Raindrop – The Story Of Water by James Carter, illustrated by Nomoco (Little Tiger Group)

Where does water come from? Is Earth the only planet to have water? Why does it rain? What do we need water for? All these questions and more are mused upon in this poetic exploration of the water cycle.

Travel across land, sky and sea as you learn how the water cycle works.  A brilliant fusion of poetry and non-fiction with striking illustrations from Japanese artist Nomoco.

This book hasn’t a lovely rhythm for reading aloud and would sit well within  a school’s science curriculum. 5+

The Rhythm of the Rain by Grahame Baker-Smith (Templar Publishing)

Follow Issac’s little jar of water from his favourite mountainside pool as it flows into the river then out into the ocean.  On the other side of the world, Cassi welcomes the rain into her sun-scorched village. Where will the little jar of water travel next?

As you would expect from Grahame Baker-Smith, the illustrations are absolutely exquisite and full of detail. These, coupled with the lyrical text give the reader some idea of the astonishing movement of water across the globe. It comes as no surprise that this title has just been nominated for The CILIP Greenaway Medal 2019.

Library Girl.

*Many thanks to Little Tiger Group and Templar Publishing for sending me these titles to review*