Almost Nothing, Yet Everything: A Book About Water

Almost Nothing

This lovely illustrated poem tells of an adult and a child who leave home and set out in a red rowboat. The text is a series of phrases and riddles exploring everything about water. The language describing the wonders of water is beautiful. The impressionistic illustrations, painted in a rich color palette of blues, greens, and yellows, glow in this story of a parent imparting wisdom to a child as they explore the world together. mjw

Title: Almost Nothing, Yet Everything: A Book About Water
Author: Hiroshi Osada (1939-2015)
Illustrator
: Ryoji Arai
Publisher
: Enchanted Lion Books. New York
Copyright
: 2021
Original Language
: Japanese
Translator
: David Boyd
Original Publisher
: Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo
Original Copyright
: 2019
ISBN
: 978-1-59270-357-9
Hardcover pages
: 44
Age range
: 4-7
Genre
: Picture book
Book setting
: Japan
Author’s ethnicity
: Japanese
Illustrator’s ethnicity
: Japanese
Illustrator’s residence
: Japan
Awards
: USBBY Outstanding International Book 2022, Illustrator won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2005
Subjects
: Asia, Nature, Science, Water, Weather

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