Anna Carries Water

“Anna, the youngest sibling in a large family, desperately wants to keep up with her older siblings as they make the daily trek to carry water back from the spring to their home. Her brothers and sisters are all capable of carrying large containers of water on their heads, while she only has an empty coffee can and cannot balance it on her head. Staccato sentences punctuate the verse, highlighting the importance of water to everyday life: ‘Water for cooking and drinking./Water for washing dishes./Washing faces./Cleaning teeth.’ As Anna struggles to overcome her jealousy and unsubstantiated fear of the cows in the field, she is finally able to develop the inner strength needed. James’s vibrant paintings will capture readers’ eyes as they pore over minutiae, such as a fly on the kitchen table or brilliantly coloured butterflies and birds in the fields. Little details – some of the children being barefoot, dirty dishes in the sink – will enable children to realise those in other parts of the world aren’t as dissimilar as they might believe.” – School Library Journal. “A gentle story about growing up. Anna’s goal is simple, but the text doesn’t trivialize her frustration at not being able to carry water the ‘grown-up’ way ... James’s stunning illustrations ... capture the warmth of Anna’s family ... Anna’s triumph will delight young readers.” – Quill & Quire

Olive Senior was born and brought up in Jamaica and educated in Jamaica and Canada. She is the winner of many awards, including the Commonwealth Prize and the Institute of Jamaica’s Gold Medal for her poetry. She lives in Toronto. Laura James is an award-winning artist and self-taught painter of Antiguan heritage. Working as a professional artist and illustrator for many years, she is best known for her illustrations for the Book of the Gospels: A lectionary, published by LTP Press. She was born in New York City, where she now lives.