drought

Hope Springs

A drought has settled in the area around the orphanage where Boniface lives. There are long line-ups at the tiny spring where all the local people get their water, and suddenly the orphans are pushed to the back of the line, unwelcome. Boniface’s houseparent, Henry, tells him that the people were mean out of fear–they feared there would not be enough water for their families. When the building of the orphanage’s well is completed, Boniface has an idea to help the villagers.

This book has been included in WOW’s Kids Taking Action Booklist. For our current list, visit our Boolist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.

Parched

Told from three perspectives, Sarel, who just witnessed the brutal murder of her parents, Nandi, the leader of a pack of dogs who looks out for her pups and Sarel, and Musa, an escaped prisoner with the water song inside him, struggle to survive in a land without water.

 

The Day the Rains Fell

At the beginning of time a goddess descends to Earth and finds that parts of the land are dry, the plants are wilting, and the animals are thirsty, for even when it rains on the parched surface, the water just runs off. The goddess is inspired to make enormous pots of clay which she pushes into the earth to collect the rainwater so the animals can drink. While she works, her daughter collects bits of leftover clay and makes a necklace. Once the pots are in place, the animals show their gratitude by adding colors to the dull beads of the necklace—the flamingo gives its bright pink, the zebra its stripes, and the ant the deep red of the earth inside its anthill. Featuring beautiful watercolor illustrations and a page of information about traditional African pots and beads, this book also includes activities for children to do on their own.

Lila and the Secret of Rain

For months, the sun has baked Lila’s Kenyan village. It’s too hot to gather firewood, too hot to weed the garden, even too hot to milk the cow. Without rain, the crops will fail. Lila is so worried that when her grandfather whispers to her the secret of making the rain fall, she decides to do something about it — even if it means confronting the sky itself. Lila’s quest to save the village is beautifully told in David Conway’s elegant, sparse prose. Jude Daly’s color-drenched illustrations perfectly evoke both the parched landscape and vibrant village life.

Singing Down the Rain

Step into a town where all the children are friends, but a drought has made the adults so grumpy they can’t stop arguing! Only a miracle can heal this divided town. Folks are so hopeless, they almost don’t recognize that miracle when it appears as a woman who specializes in rainsongs. Yet slowly the townspeople realize that with faith they can sustain each other during the dry times, and then sing down the rain together. Joy Cowley’s lyrical text and Jan Spivey Gilchrist’s impassioned paintings create a story of a community’s struggle to believe, and to connect with each other.