Still Water – Perfect Picture Book Friday

A lot of book reviews just jump right into the meat of a book, but I like to linger a bit on the cover and the endpapers, especially if they’re doing something interesting. Such is the case for Still Water: The Wonders of Ponds, Pools, Wetlands, and More, a nonfiction picture book that just released in mid-August from Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. Originally published in Italian in 2024, Sylvia Notini’s translation is now available in English.

Notice that the upper half of the cover shows a drab, gray-black and white city street with a few muted pops of red. And notice that the “puddle” is the reflection of a pond draining into the city’s rainwater/sewer system. The puddle, something we usually associate with murky water and an asphalt runoff rainbow oil slick, has been transformed into a pond portal, appropriately situated upside down, mirroring the subversion of our expectations. I want to enter that portal to discover the flora and fauna that live in this magical world.

But first the end papers!

The dedication from Valentina Gottardi, “To the child I once was,” sets the tone for the book. A book of curiosity and wonder. And this opening illustration, reveals a pond or a wetland in the darkness, the possibility of fireflies, the magic of reflected stars, and perhaps a smattering of fairy dust as we’re transported into this wetland world.

Ready to jump in? How awesome that readers are given a TOC and can turn directly to a specific option.

Curious about the different types of wetlands? How they’re affected by winter? Algae? Fascinating microorganisms that can be found in wetlands, such as rotifers with spinning cilia that bring food to their mouths like tiny propellers? Leeches? Amphibians or Newts? Frogs and toads and their differences? Beavers, shrews, and even a bear in a bog bathtub?

But notice the first subject on the list, ingeniously titled “Reflections.” It briefly describes how humans are drawn to moving water, as we tend to think of standing water as stagnant and unhealthy or simply inconvenient. All reasons why we spend so much of our time draining wetlands to harvest peat, or filling in wetlands and building or paving over top of them. But we now know that these ecosystems are vital, as they absorb floodwaters, filter out contaminants, and provide critical habitat for many species, especially for migratory birds.

An aside that’s not in this book: When I started researching groundwater issues in Iowa for my novel, HeartLand, I discovered that millions of acres of Iowa farmland rest on top of tens of thousands of miles of tiles used to drain wetlands that are now cultivated fields. In the early 1800s, those wetlands supported enormous populations of migratory birds, especially sandhill cranes. But as the wetlands were drained the cranes lost substantial portions of their habitat and disappeared from Iowa for a hundred years. But now that they’re a protected species, cranes are making a comeback in the eastern portion of the state where there are still wetlands. But those millions of acres of tiles in Iowa still channel water much more quickly into the state’s rivers and streams, causing flooding and sending excess fertilizer, hog and cattle waste, and other farm chemicals into those waters as well.

Anyway, back to this book! The creators’ attention to detail here comes through in the illustrations

and thoughtful and engrossing text. For example, the distinction between invasive and noninvasive species, depending on location, as shown above or the importance of reed beds, shown below.

And have I already mentioned the amazing illustrations?!

Okay, that’s just a taste. I have to stop before I show you all sixty-four drool-worthy pages. But one last one, the back endpapers, showing a wetland in winter and hoofprints in the snow, leading away from the water. A peaceful, silent wetland ecosystem doing its job, providing habitat for myriad species and waiting to absorb snowmelt and spring rains.

This book shows readers why these vital places filled with diverse species should not be considered an expendable nuisance, but a key element of the health of our planet, and why we should support efforts to reclaim wetlands and reverse at least some of the damage we have done.

Activities:

Watch this YouTube video to learn how to create your own mini wetland filtration experiment.

Select a page from the book that has a lot of text. Make a copy of the page and create a blackout poem. Use this blackout poem YouTube example by poet Joseph Coelho as a guide.

Take a walk near a wetland, and see what kinds of plants, birds, insects, water dwellers, or mammals you can spot. Carry a nature journal where you can record what you’ve seen or the sounds you’ve heard. Are they different from what you see or hear in a park that doesn’t have a wetland?

Title: Still Water: The Wonders of Ponds, Pools, Wetlands, and More

Authors: Valentina Gottardi, Macie J. Michno, Danio Miserocchi

Illustrator: Valnetina Gottardi

Translator: Sylvia Notini

Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2026 (English)

Ages: Elementary school to adult

Themes: wetlands, ecosystems, flora and fauna

For more perfect picture book recommendations, please visit Susanna Hill’s website.