A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder

A Book of Science and Wonder

by Walter Wick

The most spectacular photographs ever created on the subject of water appear in this unique science book by Walter Wick. The camera stops the action and magnifies it so that all the amazing states of water can be observed - water as ice, rainbow, stream, frost, dew. Readers can examine a drop of water as it falls from a faucet, see a drop of water as it splashes on a hard surface, count the points of an actual snowflake, and contemplate how drops of water form clouds.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Picture Books, Childrens, Nature, School, Stem

40 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1997

About the author

Walter Wick is an American artist and photographer best known for the elaborate images in two series of picture book activities for young children, I Spy and Can You See What I See?, both published by Scholastic.

Reviews

[Isabella Leake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides a superb introduction to very basic chemistry. It was a wonderful resource for acquainting my children with concepts like molecules and the three forms of water, learning what clouds, rainbows, and snowflakes are made of—and for poring over the almost mesmerizing photographs. And it was still more special to do the experiments together, which they absolutely loved.

(Last week, they watched a cartoon in which a character used the word "experiment." My kindergartener asked the screen, "Are you doing Drop of Water?" And when the word "molecules" came up in another cartoon, she replied, "We know molecules!")

The most outstanding aspects of the book are the photography and the way the author seems to have conceived the project as a whole. The photos are beautifully composed and flawlessly executed—they are fun to look at on their own. It's just excellent photography, which is what Walter Wick (creator of the I Spy and Can You See What I See? series) is known for. But even better, there is perfect accord between text and image; the photos depict the concepts in a way that only an author who illustrates his own book can achieve.

I'm so grateful that we got to dip our toes into chemistry via this book, and that my children's first foray into "real" science used a resource that so effectively highlighted the sheer glory of it all. Chemistry shouldn't seem weird and alien; it should seem familiar and gorgeous.

I was so impressed with this one, I bought the author's followup book A Ray of Light (discussing light and color). I'm not quite as impressed, and the experiments look a bit more difficult to do, but I think we will give it a whirl eventually.

[Lmichelleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this is not a deep scientific treatise, but it has the weight that comes with the simple illustration of beautiful truths. My children connected with the lovely photography and interacted with the concepts they learned here about water.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I normally wouldn’t add a non-narrative school book to my Goodreads but I learned a lot from this book. It’s simple: photographs and short text that explain and illustrate how water expands, freezes, evaporates (would you believe I never before connected “vapor” with “evaporate”?) and more. The experiments in the back are more like demonstrations that let the student (and his mom, ahem) see the concept in action. They all use household items. Science is an area where I have zero curiosity and interest. I sincerely don’t care how things happen or why, but my son does! So I plan to grow as I honor this part of him. This book made it pretty painless.

[Brit Chhangur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short chapters! 🙌🏼 easy experiments! 🙌🏼 AO form 1!

[Debbie Reiber · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder by Walter Wick is a nonfiction children’s book. This book was an Orbis Pictus honor book in 1998. The age group this book is intended for is intermediate to advance. The book describes water’s smallest parts, its many forms, such as liquid, solid, and gas, and its effects on nature and weather. It describes experiments that can be tried too.
These pictures are zoomed in and the clarity draws my focus to every detail of the picture. I like that Wick explains the details with realistic, every day scenarios or something that you could always experiment with yourself. The order of this book is very careful and deliberate. It talks about water and all of its capabilities in liquid form; some I wouldn’t have even thought about on my own. Then it moves on to the solid and gas forms and how water effects weather and nature. This is an excellent book for young readers. It provides the reader with information, but also some ideas to create their own experiments. This book could be used in a classroom for a science lesson, and some of the experiments can be tested to learn more hands on how water works.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A science read aloud. Great photos and the boys loved it.

[Lindsey Carnicella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photography and accessible useful language. I learned for the first time in my life the difference between snow and sleet! (Snow is water vapor that goes directly to ice, sleet is vapor to liquid to ice. Same thing with frost, which results in both forming a crystalline structure.). Ha! Who knew! Several other ideas presented in the book really captures the imaginations of my children, especially about molecules. Excited for future AO science books!
True confessions: we didn’t do all the experiments. But enjoyed this little book nonetheless.

[Ardyth]

The photos in here are outstanding.

Stalled because we are preparing for an international move followed quickly by a few months of travelling on another continent. I had to make many very difficult decisions about what comes on the plane vs what to store for the better part of a year... this one has to wait.

[L.E. Fidler · Rating 5 out of 5]

We’ve read this book quite a few times since getting it. Gorgeous photography, experiments to ponder, and basic science make this one good for parents and inquisitive kids.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

AO Y3

[Shellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This follows the life of drop of water.
It has beautiful photography and easy to understand explanations.

It's an early science book.

You must read his reason for why he did this book on page 40.

This is the same author as those hidden picture books I loved so much. I put a bunch by him on hold.

[Anjanette Barr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my second time through this book with children. I love the way it encourages observation skills, both with beautiful photography and with "expiriments" that are easy (though not required) to replicate. We take it slow. A couple of pages a week for school. It's a favorite and they are eager when the book comes out!

[gloriabluestocking · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely photographs a short, concise descriptions bring water to life in this book. Simple experiments included for each subject at the back of the book.
I also love that this book begins with a quote from Arabella Buckley's The Fairy Book of Science.

[Jacklyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The realism and photos in this book show how wonderful science really is. It’s shows details up close and personal as well as containing lots of great information. This would be a great book to have in the classroom when working on science lessons specifically for water!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellie read this book last year for AO y4 and loved it....krb 3/10/19

[Margie Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the love of science, this is a beautiful book !! Drops of water and the questions asked give children so much to think about. Amazing photography and information that leaves room for exploration and experimentation.

[Vonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very neat book. I came across it over at one of my co-worker's bookshelves in her classroom. The cover immediately caught my attention because of the cover. Water art really catches my attention so I immediately picked this up. I was completely captivated by it.

This neat book gave intriguing information about water. It described and gave examples of the different forms of water as well as what what one can do with it. Though these were scientific based, all the information was written in a simplistic way so that anyone could understand it, especially children. Challenging words were explained and it did not feel as if this was a science text. It might not have given the exact details of what water is comprised of, but it gave the gist of it.

What I loved best about this book were the images. Walter Wick is a very talented photographer. Not only were the photographs in the book amazing, they captured the true nature and beauty of water. As a visual learner, it was great to be able to see what the text was talking about. Also, these images that were used were not small and few; there were images on almost every page, and they were big. This book completely held my attention from beginning to end because of the photography.

At the end, I found myself loving this book. I showed it to a few students and they too were captivated by it. They admired the pictures, which encouraged them to read the information to learn more of what the images were about. I want to add this book to my collection.

[Kirah Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

1. Walter Wick shows us a the intricacy of water in a whole different way. This is a nonfiction, fact filled picture book that includes remarkable photos of water in different forms. It explains many different aspects of water like how it freezes, the water cycle, refraction, cohesion, and so so much more. It is very informative and eye catching.
2. This book has a lexile of 870. It has some pretty difficult concepts in it like cohesion, so I would recommend it for grades 4-6th. It is an independent level book.
3. This book would definitely be used in a science class setting. You could have it handy when talking about water's properties.
4. Students who like science would like this book, also students who enjoy photography would love to see the picture in this book.
5. I wouldn't use this book in a group setting, unless the current unit plan was related to water. Then the students could reference this book.
6. I would not read this book aloud. It has decently wordy pages, and I'm not sure students would stay interested in it enough.
7. Related books include Matter and How it Changes, A Drop Around the World, and Water can be...
8. This book comes in hardback and paperback versions. There are no other media outlets of this book.

[Moe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a simple science book that focuses on all different things associated with water. I never knew that the surface of water has an elastic-like surface, and that you can rest a steel pin on the surface of the water. It was interesting to see all these different snowflakes, and I thought it was cool how they haven't found identical snowflakes. I was amazed to find out that if a raindrop hits the ground and littler raindrops break up, there are around 3 trillion molecules of water in the raindrop! It just goes to show how small the microscopic world is. Anyway, it was a well done book and at the end all the experiments and picture demonstrations throughout the book where all available to be done with a set of instructions.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous photographs are the highlight of this science book about water. The narrative covers many different topics, but each is described in one page, just a few paragraphs. So children can learn about the basics about water's properties without being overwhelmed with details. The narrative is easy to understand and stimulates conversation.

At the end of the book are different experiments that children can perform that further reinforce the lessons in the book. Overall, we thought this was a very informative and engaging book and we really enjoyed reading it together.

[Bradley]

What’s most fascinating about science books is how they spark wonder. Beautiful pictures, understandable, intelligent language guide the reader as they learn about a phenomenon through scientific lenses. Most people I imagine have run their fair share of experiments with water, and this book provides a number of experiments that can be carried out and gives us definitions of what transpires as well as how water interacts with the environment.

I personally loved the book. I could not put it down. It’s simple, to the point, and does a great job of crafting the magic that occurs in our natural world. Water is miraculous. :D

[Samarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informational
3rd-5th

This is such a simple informational book about water that I really liked. My favorite part of this book is that it provides readers with some fun and creative experiments they could do with water. When I think of having this book in my classroom my hope with this book is that students would take it home and do some of the experiments. I really think that it would be a lot of fun. Even as a teacher I could provide them with some of these experiments in the classroom. I loved the illustrations as well. All in all this is such a great book and tool for students.

[Rebekah Waggoner]

Informational
3rd-5th

This is such a simple informational book about water that I really liked. My favorite part of this book is that it provides readers with some fun and creative experiments they could do with water. When I think of having this book in my classroom my hope with this book is that students would take it home and do some of the experiments. I really think that it would be a lot of fun. Even as a teacher I could provide them with some of these experiments in the classroom. I loved the illustrations as well. All in all this is such a great book and tool for students.

[Terra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has some amazing photographs of the different stages of the water cycle. A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder is something I would read to children just beginning to learn about the water cycle. The amazing photos in the book are very helpful for children to understand how the water cycle works. Walter Wick did an amazing job on incorporating photos with information about the water cycle.

[Ellen Church · Rating 5 out of 5]

This "children's" book would have been an excellent addition to my high school science classroom. It discusses some of the wonderful things that make water so special, illustrated by Walter Wick's incomparable photography. Topics such as surface tension, cloud formation, crystallization, condensation, and refraction are covered. Excellent for classrooms teaching chemistry, physics, hydrology or biology.

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about water in all of it's states. The explanations are paired well with the pictures and it would help readers to understand the state the water is in at that moment.

These pictures are real.

I would teach this book before a science unit. First asking the kids what they know about water, then incorporating their answers while reading the book.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wick’s photographs and text bring water’s many qualities to life. Each page creates a sense of wonder about these qualities too. How can water run over us loosely, and yet when we hit it, it becomes hard like a wall? The last pages of this book provides activities concerning waters many forms for the classroom. This book is best suited for an elementary school library.

[Mummy Cat Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is more of a reference book for children to read and better understand water. If a child were to have an assignment to write a paper on water, this would be a great reference book to write from.

There is no story here. There is no flow, no way of adding interesting narratives or pictures to grab children's interests. This is full of dry facts. The pictures support the text.

My children struggled to sit through this book. The subject matter is presented in the most dry of ways. I got this for our home school science unit.

Honestly, I would not recommend this book. I was even bored reading it.

[Alena Wiebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter especially loved the experiments in this book. Floating a sewing pin using surface tension was something she won’t soon forget. This book has excellent photos and simple explanations that makes these scientific principles accessible for the elementary student without sacrificing accuracy.

[Heather Cheatham · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 9 year old and I really enjoyed learning so many interesting aspects about water that we had observed so many times but didn’t take the time to slow down and explore. This was my son’s favorite science book this year in homeschool.