“My name / is Water / but everyone / calls me Little Water.” In this beautiful, poetic ode to the life-giving force of water, award-winning children’s book author Jorge Argueta describes—in English, Spanish and Nahuat—the life cycle of water from the perspective of one drop.
From its birth deep in Mother Earth, Little Water climbs to the surface, passing through roots and rocks, light and darkness. Finally, the tiny bead of water makes it to the top and rests, “a sigh of morning dew,” hanging on “the tips of leaves / on spider webs / or on the petals / of flowers.” The droplet becomes a river, a lake, an ocean, ultimately climbing to the sky and turning into a cloud. Then, “drop by drop / I return singing / to our Mother Earth. I am Little Water. / I am life.”
With stunningly beautiful illustrations by Felipe Ugalde Alcántara that depict the mountains, rocks, vegetation and animals of the natural world, this poem about the importance of water reflects Argueta’s indigenous roots and his appreciation for nature. Containing the English and Spanish text on each page, the entire poem appears at the end in Nahuat, the language of Argueta’s Pipil-Nahua ancestors. This book is an excellent choice to encourage children to write their own poems about the natural world and to begin conversations about the interconnected web of life.
Click here to listen to an interview with Jorge Argueta about his poetry collection, En carne propia / Flesh Wounds, and his new trilingual picture book for children, Agua, Agüita / Water, Little Water.
Click here to watch Jorge Argueta talk about his poetry collection, En carne propia / Flesh Wounds, and his new trilingual picture book for children, Agua, Agüita / Water, Little Water.
Click here to watch Jorge Argueta in the APP Authors Speak series talking about his creative process.
Named a Junior Library Guild selection
Winner, Campoy-Ada Award in Children’s Poetry
Named to the Cooperative Children’s Book Center annual best-of-the-year list, CCBC Choices 2018
Recipient of a 2018 Skipping Stones Honor Award
“Mixed-media full-page illustrations accompany the text, giving visual focus to Little Water’s cycle of life. Hopefully this poem will spark conversations not only about water, its cycle, and life-giving importance, but also about the different cultures in our hemisphere.”—Kirkus Reviews
“A lyrical journey though the water cycle, sure to inspire the imaginations of young readers and listeners.”—School Library Journal, starred review
“Agüita is a water droplet that takes the reader on a journey of its life cycle. From its beginnings in the ocean and on the petals of plants, it lands into the rivers, lakes, and ponds it lives in, displaying how it nourishes and brings life to all living creatures. Agüita, it becomes clear, is everywhere and all around us, and is a thing of enigmatic contradictions.”—Booklist
“Award-winning author Argueta pens an ode to water and the beauty of nature in this picture book with vivid, mixed-media illustrations by Alcántara. The poem reminds us that water is part of the flow of life.”—Houston Chronicle
“The constant motion and evolution of a tiny drop through the fundamental water cycle is beautifully interpreted in Jorge Tetl Argueta’s poetically bilingual Agua, Agüita, or Water, Little Water. Illustrations from Felipe Ugalde Alcántara perfectly complement the Spanish/English text. The ebb and flow unfolds in dreamy colors and soft edges as Agüita, or Little Water, journeys from deep within the earth to distant rivers, vast oceans, and the pouring rain falling from the sky.”—Foreword Reviews
“The author illustrates how water is born, how it surfaces through light and darkness, and finally where it ends up within our earth. It is a stunning way to show children the importance of this great asset we get from our earth and how necessary it is to make our world survive.”—TheLatinoAuthor.com
JORGE ARGUETA, a Pipil Nahua Indian from El Salvador and the 2023 Poet Laureate of San Mateo County, is a prize-winning poet and author of more than twenty children’s picture books. They include Una película en mi almohada / A Movie in My Pillow (Children’s Book Press, 2001) and Somos como las nubes / We Are Like the Clouds (Groundwood Books, 2016), which won the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and was named to USBBY’s Outstanding International Book List, the ALA Notable Children’s Books and the Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices. His Madre Tierra / Mother Earth series celebrates the natural world and is made up of four installments: Tierra, Tierrita / Earth, Little Earth (Piñata Books, 2023), winner of the Salinas de Alba Award for Latino Children’s Literature; Viento, Vientito / Wind, Little Wind (Piñata Books, 2022), winner of the Premio Campoy-Ada given by the Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española; Fuego, Fueguito / Fire, Little Fire (Piñata Books, 2019); and Agua, Agüita / Water, Little Water (Piñata Books, 2017), winner of the inaugural Campoy-Ada Award in Children’s Poetry. His poetry collection, En carne propia: Memoria poética / Flesh Wounds: A Poetic Memoir (Arte Público Press, 2017), focuses on his experiences with civil war and living in exile. The California Association for Bilingual Education honored him with its Courage to Act Award. In addition, Jorge Argueta is the founder of The International Children’s Poetry Festival Manyula and The Library of Dreams, a non-profit organization that promotes literacy in rural and metropolitan areas of El Salvador. Jorge divides his time between San Francisco, California, and El Salvador.
FELIPE UGALDE ALCÁNTARA was born in Mexico City and studied Graphic Communication at the National University of Mexico’s School of Art. He illustrated Mother Fox and Mr. Coyote / Mamá Zorra y Don Coyote (Piñata Books, 2004) and Little Crow to the Rescue / El Cuervito al rescate (Piñata Books, 2005).
ATOS Interest Level: Lower/Middle Grades
Category: Picture Book
ATOS English: 1.9
ATOS Spanish: 1.6
LEXILE: 470L
LEXILE Spanish: 500L
Accelerated Reader Quiz #: 192341 EN / 192341 SP
