Almost Nothing, Yet Everything

by Hiroshi Osada, Ryōji Arai (Illustrator), David Boyd (Translator)

Artist Ryōji Arai and poet Hiroshi Osada, the Japanese team behind critically acclaimed Every Color of Light, offer up another meditation on the natural world in this ode to water. A lyrical moment between parent and child in a boat on a river unfolds into an examination of the water that surrounds them, and the nature and life sustained by it: "It’s only oxygen and hydrogen. Simple as could be, and yet nothing means more to life as we know it." Arai's lush art and Osada's evocative poetry, beautifully translated from Japanese by David Boyd, work together to enchant readers and refresh their spirit, opening their eyes to the wonders of water, the universe, and life.

Genres: Picture Books, Poetry, Nature, Childrens, Japan, Philosophy, Art

44 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Hiroshi Osada was born in Fukushima City in 1939. He graduated from Waseda University in 1963. Two years later, he debuted as a poet with This Journey. In 1982, he receieved the Mainichi Publishing Culture Award for The Bookstore of the Century. In 1991, he won the Robō-no-ishi Literary Prize. In 1998, Osada was awarded the first Kuwabata Takeo Prize for The Making of Memories In 2000, his collaboration with Ryōji Arai, A Forest Picture Book earned the Kodansha Publishing Culture Award for Children's Literature. His second collaboration with Ryōji Arai, Every Color of Light, followed. He died in 2015.

Reviews

[Aliza Werner · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations are gorgeous. The lyrical text a bit syrupy at times, but something must have gotten lost in translation on the last pages (water referred to as “the pee of life”) which totally took me out of it.

[Victoria Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

AH- mazing! Spoiler: Gods pee.

[Eve G · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m at Barnes and noble reading my last books of the year and what a beautiful day it is!!!!!!! Gorgeous illustrations would love to be a kid experiencing new drawings and simple words of poetry

[Jeimy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The text is okay, but the illustrations are amazing!

[Hannah Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poetic book about water makes a sudden turn into pee pee land. I have no idea what happened in the last three pages.

[Benjamin Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A contemplation of water accompanied by illustrations depicting two people journeying by boat and (I think) returning home. The text is calming. I also enjoyed the illustration style. Not every page was a winner for me, but a few of them were incredible.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Iamaby En · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the ending!

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author/illustrator team who created Every Color of Light returns with a picture book celebrates a different element: water. A parent and child head off on a journey along the waterways. Water has no color of its own, but can be any color based on where it is. It forms to any shape, but you can’t slice it or hold it in your hands. It reflects us back when we look into it and also the sky and clouds. It flows, rains, cascades and overflows. It is simple, but vital to life on earth.

Translated from the original Japanese, this picture book is beautifully poetic. It looks at the many aspects of water through the eyes of a child who is interacting with it on a journey along the river. The ending of the book adds a child’s question about whether water is the pee-pee of the gods. After such a lyrical poem, the question is marvelous in its honesty, simplicity and wonder.

Arai’s illustrations are exceptional. Filled with the beauty of water, they capture it both in its impact on landscapes and as it flows through one’s fingers. The large landscapes are deep green and dramatic while the close ups are personal and capture small moments of discovery. The combination of the two make the importance of water in our lives clear.

Another winning elemental picture book from Japan. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book about water. If I was teaching a unit on water, I'd definitely read this book. I loved all the aspects it touches on- that it's clear, it has no shape but takes any shape (and the picture shows a river forking and taking the shape of the land- or making the shape of the land...). The artwork is well done, I can't tell what it was done with but at times I feel like I see brush strokes and then pen marks. My least favorite picture is kind of the one on the page that says, "It runs clearer than anything". I actually love the picture, but for the sentence with it being clear I wanted more water, clear and refreshing, but most of it is like a darker forest with almost a stream running through. I love the page, "It can slip through your fingers, like it's nothing at all./ But life would be unthinkable without it." The picture is of hands, cupped together holding water but slipping through and there's animals at the water in the hands. And then at the end it had a twist that my boys loved: "Like the mother of us all, it creates life./ Like blood, it courses through us, refreshing our spirits./ It is the pee of life....." They thought it was funny. (There's a few more lines, that I won't quote here, but that was the twist.) Rivers, lakes, fish, waterfalls- so many wonderful pictures!

[Xavier · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book with beautiful painted art. This is not the typical 21st century children’s book where it rhymes and/or provides some sort of social, behavioral, or emotional lesson. This book simply expresses the in very subtle sentences the beauty and importance of water. The images are also not modern or flashy, but more of an oil painted type image. With this book, we took the time to appreciate the beautiful images and discuss them and what they mean. We also used certain pages to talk about what water means to life. I think the book offered great talking points.

We are not particularly religious and the book does have an image where water and life are being held by large hands. Here we discussed how life is in God’s hands, but it is also in man’s hand with how well we take care of the earth and our vital water.

There is a couple of awkward sentences at the end where the water is described as the pee of life and to be more specific the pee-pee of the gods. A little awkward and the kids found it awkward too.

I would read another book by this author and it is a great opportunity to expose children to other cultures.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

what is almost nothing, yet everything? (besides the title of this picture book?) water. and so it goes, a series of riddles and observations, a lyrical exploration of water with gorgeous illustrations as accompaniment.

I've noticed several felt lured into something gorgeous if not meditative only for the book to take on one more way to describe water: as god's pee. they were disappointed, if not horrified. honestly, it clenched this book as a winner for me. course, I not only enjoy books for myself, but as a bookseller I think about potential audiences and those last lines broadened this book's horizons. Also: it grounds the book, a reminder that the exploration is not a lofty one, but a human one. perspectives generated from or considered by a human being. it's not a pretension nor is it vulgar, it is purely and simply a delight--like this very book.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

During this father-son riverboat adventure, a father eloquently soliloquizes about water, “the mother of us all,” in its various forms—changing shape and color, flowing “like tears” and raining down “like falling stars,” cascading over waterfalls and coursing along rivers, giving shape and substance to everything we know as life. As they tramp home from the dock in the dark after their day-long sail, the two engage in this strange exchange about the vital element:

“It is the pee of life.
Then the child asks: Is it the pee-pee of the gods?
It sure is, I answer.”

“And then, I wrote this poem,” the poet concludes, perhaps while sipping on a strange-tasting, yellow-tinted glass of water, followed by bath time for the boy.

Maybe something was lost in translation?

[Christie Kaaland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honoring the diverse qualities of water, its characteristics and idiosyncrasies and necessity, are beautifully depicted by the art of Ryōji Arai, internationally renowned artist. On each double-page spread the art speaks for itself showing the riddles of water, the life-giving qualities thereof. While brief lyrical text accompanies the magnificent art, the overall impact of the importance of water is found in the illustrations ~~ large sweeping strokes of the many shades and shapes of colorless, shapeless water ~~ in an array of nature scenes.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was in awe of this book, a lyrical tribute to the elemental importance and beauty of water. The book's design and illustrations are really spectacular, until...until. As other reviews have noted, the book swerves crazily off track in the final pages, referring to rain as "God's pee". Makes me wonder if something got lost in the translation, as it just doesn't fit the tone of this otherwise wonderful book.

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although marketed as a children’s book based upon its illustrations, this book is too philosophical for a child. Its illustrations are beautiful. However, they are too sophisticated for a children’s picture book.

The ideas that the book conveys and its methodology may be good tools for use in a grade school science lesson on water. However, they don’t work well in a book designed for a general audience that is not science oriented.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are absolutely stunning. I would have given it 5 stars, but the end of the book really threw off the tone. The whole time, the sparse text created a lyrical, dream like atmosphere. And then the kid asks about pee-pee. Funny, but really jarred me out of the experience the rest of the book creates.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age: Preschool-2nd grade
Nature: Water
Author & Illustrator: Japanese

Stunning, breathtaking impressionist-inspired oil paintings depict the mysterious and essential beauty of water. There appears to be a lot of pee-pee haters out there, but I love the whimsical, childlike presence it adds to this poetic musing of water.

[Nick Swarbrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Water is like a mother… like blood… like the pee of the gods. This is an intriguing and engaging meditation on a stretch of water, beautifully painted in greens, blues, a gorgeous orange and with an amazing inky, starry sky, accompanied by a thought-provoking and simple text. Perhaps the artwork outshines the text? Even so, this is a marvellous book.

[Happystar · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

I finally realize it was a poem after reading two third of the book, I think I would have like it more if I knew it was a poem to begin with. I was very confuse reading it and thinking I am not sure if any kid would understand this. I also had high expectations thinking this book would be similar to Kobi Yamada’s book.

[Jacky]

Sweet little book with pretty illustrations that gave me a surprising laugh at the end. Didn't realize it was going to be so short—read it in the library parking lot right away so I could just return it.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is such a solemn stunner about the absolute brilliance and necessity of water in our world and our lives, but the mood was a littttllleeee disrupted by the translated ending lines: "It is the pee of life. Is it the pee-pee of the Gods?" (I mean...yes? You heard it hear first, folks).

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book and the author's other collaboration with illustrator Ryoji Arai, "Every Color of Light," are supremely beautiful praises to the natural world. I wonder how much young children would enjoy them.

[Pierre-Luc Landry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A poetic contemplation about water and its paradoxes. Ryōji Arai's illustrations are mesmerizing. The poem itself collapses in unsuccessful humor at the end, but all in all the album is a beautiful work of art.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It starts off as almost a riddle but becomes a very poetic look at the contradictions of a very simple (yet absolutely necessary) thing. Until the last part, which made me laugh out loud. People in different countries have very different approaches to children's literature!

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, wondrously illustrated story about the importance of water. Unconventional illustrations will open up dialogue with kids about different kinds of art. Kids will get a kick out of the final few pages as water is referred to as "pee".

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are lovely and kept me interested. Below the beautiful illustrations, the book is filed with a single sentence about the unique character of water and what it provides to life. My family enjoyed this book a lot.

[eli☆彡 · Rating 5 out of 5]

« It’s the pee of life. »

Je ne savais pas à quoi m’attendre en prenant ce livre, mais j’ai été agréablement surprise en voyant les images 🎀

C’est un bon rappel sur l’eau, voilà, lisez c’est une bonne lecture pour une matinée!

[Zachary Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

”Only oxygen and hydrogen, simple as can be. But nothing means more to life as we know it.”

A nice reminder that water is literally so so so essential. Gonna get a glass of it right now