The Water Gift and the Pig of the Pig - Hardcover

Martin, Jacqueline Briggs; Linda S. Wingerter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0618074368 ISBN 13: 9780618074365

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers, 2003

Synopsis

Radiant, elegantly textured illustrations capture the very heart of this unusual story about a divining rod, a beloved pig, and a quiet granddaughter with gifts of her own to uncover. Together, word and image reveal that there is indeed much more to this world than what we see.

About this title

About the Author

Jacqueline Briggs Martin is the author of Snowflake Bentley, winner of the 1999 Caldecott Medal, and The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish, an ALA Notable Book, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book, Riverbank Review Finalist, Notable Social Studies Trade book and winner of The Golden Kite Award for Illustration. She grew up on a farm in Maine much like the one in this story. She lives in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-Grandfather left the sea when he married, but even now he's a water man at heart. His shy granddaughter, Isabel, loves his tales. She loves fishing with him and going dowsing, too, to find underground water. But most of all, she loves the Pig of the Pig, the last pig of the last litter of the pig that sailed with Grandfather around Cape Horn. When he becomes discouraged after several unsuccessful attempts at finding water and the Pig disappears, the child discovers within herself a courage and a gift she never knew she had. The lengthy story is wonderfully paced and offers some delightful moments, as when the young narrator uses a rock as a pretend ship and sails out to sea, heedless of the "wind that cuts like scissors and saw blades," or when she tells readers about a grouchy neighbor, who, Grandfather says, "-wouldn't give away the good smell from a piece of warm toast." The large acrylic paintings, some of which are spreads, are framed in white, and Wingerter's brush strokes achieve a texture that is perfectly suited to rendering wind and sea and tall farm grasses. The artist's depiction of the grandmother, granddaughter, and the Pig, all sitting before the stove listening to Grandfather's yarns, speaks to the warmth and contentment they share. A fine addition to any collection.
Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0618074368
• ISBN 13: 9780618074365
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32