Book Review: Watersong – by Tim McCanna

 

 

 

 

Book: Watersong
Author: Tim McCanna
Illustrator: Richard Smythe
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Genre: Children's picture book
Date: January 2017
Pages: 32
My Rating: a pleasant experience of one of nature's songs

Watersong is one of those amazing books in which the marriage of words and illustrations deliver a complete and brilliant story.

In fifty-six words (only two of them repeated once each), and in rhythmic rhyme, Tim McCanna created a story of what one can experience of nature’s breathtaking power. Through onomatopoeia – in this case rain sounds, such as drip drop plip plop – the reader follows a fox through the forest as rain begins falling, intensifies, increases into a storm from which the fox seeks shelter, then the rain tapers off and turns back to a sunny early summer day. It’s all through scant words on each page and well-suited illustrations.

The illustrator, Richard Smythe, used soft watercolour to create the pleasant hues of summer in the forest, river, and meadow during and after the rain. His illustrations perfectly reveal what the words are saying, while the words precisely describe what the illustrations are showing. It’s beautifully done, truly a water song.

Reading Watersong slowly and thoughtfully, the reader can imagine being there and hearing the rain in its different moods. It’s a lovely book.

You can find Watersong by Tim McCanna on my BUY THE BOOK page. I also post my reviews on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Goodreads, and sometimes Chapters.Indigo.

Your comments for author and/or illustrator are appreciated.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂