We Are Water Protectors

Championing the importance of protecting water from pollution, We Are Water Protectors speaks from the perspective of a young Native American girl teaching readers what she has learned about the importance of water from her people and her culture—that it is medicine; it is alive; it has a memory; it gives life to plants, animals, and humans alike. Inspired by Standing Rock, the antagonist in the book is “the black snake” or oil pipeline. The author and illustrator notes at the back of the book are lengthy, but give additional context and engender additional appreciation for the work and its cause. The message that mankind is stewards of the Earth and responsible for those who cannot speak for themselves is told through lovely poetic text with beautiful connections to water throughout (e.g. “tears like waterfalls”), but where this book truly shines is its exquisite watercolor illustrations, with repeated use of water elements in the subject matter as well as the media. What could have become a run of the mill book with an agenda to be hammered home becomes a work of art under the hands of Goade, with tableaus that absolutely enchant—the little girl’s hair cascades from her head in swirls of streams, lily pads, fish and otters is particularly poignant and mesmerizing.