13 Children’s Books About Water Scarcity + Activities

The Water Princess by Susan Verde and Georgie Badiel, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

In an African village, a mother and daughter, Gie Gie,  must walk miles to bring back water, starting before sunrise. The water, when they finally get it, is cloudy with dirt. With this water, they wash clothes, prepare food for cooking, and boil for drinking. After waiting all day, Gie Gie finally gets water to drink. This journey must be done every day until someday when clear, clean water will miraculously flow in their village. This is Princess Gie Gie’s dream! The back matter notes that nearly one billion people around the world don’t have access to clean water. African model Georgie Badiel is working to change this. Her foundation is listed below. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

Anna Carries Water by Olive Senior, illustrated by Laura James

Anna wants to carry water on her head like her siblings, but she’s the youngest and it spills. Every evening after school, the kids went to the spring for water and carried it back home. The water is used for cooking, drinking, washing dishes and faces, and brushing teeth. They go to the river to wash clothes and bathe. This story focuses on Anna learning to carry water and overcome her fear of the neighbor’s cows, but it is also useful to contrast to other areas where water is further away and the impact of that on the children. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

Hope Springs by Eric Walters, and illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes

There is a drought in Kenya and the people in Boniface’s village don’t want to share water with the orphans at his orphanage at the Little Spring. Luckily, a well is being dug for the orphanage but it’s slow going. Finally, the well is done and Boniface has an idea. Using the leftover tools, he proposes digging a well by the little spring, helping the very people who refused him water. Boniface lives at a Creation of Hope orphanage and this is his true story.

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

In Southern Sudan, Linda Sue Park tells two stories of a boy, Salva, and girl, Nya, based on actual events. The boy’s story is set in 1985 where his village has been decimated from war and he must survive on his own, making a perilous journey to a refugee camp. He is a Lost Boy of Sudan.

Nya’s story is set in 2008. Her struggle for survival revolves around a daily struggle to find water, a journey that consumes her entire day. Both Salva and Nya are connected in both war and peace. Salva is Dinka, a tribe that Nya’s people fight with over access to the water. Many people in Nya’s village have died over that.

The long walk to obtain water is about to change for her village. Both Salva and Nya play a part in this, and the ending brings hope for a better future. [chapter book, ages 10 and up]

Nya’s Long Walk by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Brian Pinkney

In this picture book companion to the bestseller A Long Walk to Water, a young South Sudanese girl goes on a journey that requires determination, persistence, and compassion. [picture book, ages 3 and up]

Thank you to Jennifer Miller on Twitter @RaisingThemRighteous for this addition:

We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Michaela Goade

Water is a resource that we need to protect. Indigenous people have always been stewards of the earth, but most recently, they led movements to safeguard water from harm and corruption. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

The Water Walker by Joanne Robertson

Gichi miigwech, Nibi, for the life you give to every living thing on Earth. I love you. I respect you.

Nokomis Josephine Mandamin, an Ojibwe grandmother, decided to walk to raise awareness to protect Nibi (water) for future generations. She walked, with other activists, around all of the Great Lakes, wearing out eleven pairs of sneakers. [bilingual Ojibwe picture book, ages 4 and up]

Thirst by Varsha Bajaj

In the slums of Mumbai where 12-year-old Minni lives, no one has indoor plumbing. Water must be collected every day at public pumps, but some days, the lines take hours when the water barely flows. And, when the monsoons come late, the water runs out and people must buy water from the water tank truck. One night, Minni and her friends stumble on a secret. The water mafia is stealing water from the public pumps. Suddenly her world is upside down. Her brother has to flee to the countryside. Her mother is ill and must move away as well to convalesce. Even worse, Minni has to take over her mother’s job as a servant until her mother is able to resume it. At the luxurious home of her mother’s employer, water comes flowing out of the taps. Minni wants to pursue her education, and now she must juggle her examinations, her new job, and a new computer class. She dreams of a world where there is enough water for everyone, but she will need to decide if someone small and insignificant can take down someone who is rich and powerful.

It’s easy to take clean water for granted and, while this story might feel like a “Mad Max” dystopian novel, it’s realistic fiction set in modern-day Mumbai. Minni’s teacher tells Minni and her classmates that only 5% of Mumbai’s water allotment goes to their area, despite being nearly 40% of the population. Like all scarce commodities, water is unevenly distributed. [middle grade, ages 10 and up]

Water by Subhash Singh Vyam

Thank you my Twitter friend @Tamra_Snell for her great book suggestion!

Tamra Snell‏@tamra_snell

It begins when the water stops.

The novel told in the alternating perspectives of Alyssa, Kelton, Jacqui, and Henry, is about four teenagers whose lives collide during the California “Tap Out,” in which the state’s supply of water that was being routed to them from the Colorado River, is shut off without notice. Neighborhoods devolve into warzones with Costco at the frontlines; Doomsday Preppers hunker down in their bunkers, gleefully muttering “We told you so,” and the clock starts to tick on not only human lives but their very humanity. The action abounds as each character must do what they can or are willing to do to survive. And whoever is left standing in the end will have to live with the choices they’ve made.

I think what sets this book apart is its potential to be a catalyst of change. When my heart stopped pounding and I climbed out of the internet rabbit hole that is Doomsday Prepping 101, I was left with the urge to do something. I want to know more and do better with my own resource consumption. I know I will be putting this book into the hands of my students with the hopes that it makes them feel the same.” [young adult, ages 12 and up]

Water Scarcity Activity for Kids

Bucket exercise teaches students about water scarcity

A Cool Drink of Water by Barbara Kerley

National Geographic photographs portray how people around the world collect and drink water. With very simple text, this is the perfect picture book to show a multicultural view of what it is like to get a drink of water. The photographs are detailed in the back matter both with location and how the water is procured. The final page is about water conservation. It’s easy to take fresh water for granted here in the United States. This book makes us realize how lucky we are! [picture book, ages 3 and up]