We Are Water Protectors

Gorgeously illustrated picture book about humans and our relationship to water. Written by a native author (Anishinaabe/Metis and Ojibwa), Carole Lindstrom, the book was written in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests of 2016. Oil pipelines are depicted metaphorically as a poisonous, giant black snake stretching across the land. Native illustrator Michaela Goade (Tlingit and Haida) infuses the book with so many glorious shades of blue, green, and purple, the reader can almost feel themselves suffused in water. A wonderful book for budding environmentalists, to teach them that protection of water is not just for humanity's own sake, but also for the sake of, "The winged ones, the crawling ones, the four-legged, the two-legged, the plants, trees, rivers, lakes, The Earth." While the protagonists featured in the book are from Native American tribes, the message of earth-stewardship and protection is directed towards (and necessary!) for everyone.

This was a beautiful book about stewardship and the Indigenous Peoples fight for environmental protection of water against fracking. I thoroughly enjoyed the poetic nature of the text and the illustrations were gorgeous. I highly recommend this one, especially to teachers in need of more diverse literature for their classroom collections.

Note: I was provided a copy of the audiobook for review, which I read without access to the physical book. I would have loved to have had access to the physical copy of this children's story. It is not surprising that I missed a large portion of the storytelling aspect with this publication originally being a picture book. However, even without the visual experience, I was able to easily grasp the beautiful way in which this important message was presented. A story about the Indigenous history of protecting the environment and presenting this cause as something that should be undertaken by all, it is told in a moving way. The parallels between First Nation story-telling and the reality of oil pipelines (or the "black snake") were stark - difficult to ignore for older readers but easy to grasp for younger readers alike. The inclusion of author narrative about the picture book's story and an interactive water protector pledge, makes the audiobook a great addition to what I have no doubt is a gorgeous physical book. Note: Review copy (audiobook) received from Libro.FM. This does not impact opinions within this review. blog • trigger warning database • more links Happy reading! ❤