The Walter Lady by Alice B. McGinty and Illustrated by Shonto Begay

This story follows the separate lives of Cody and Darlene Arviso on a Navajo reservation. The school-age children go to school while Cody stays home, and Darlene goes to work driving a bus and then delivering water to the surrounding families. Many families do not have running water, so they depend on Darlene to deliver water in a hot desert environment. Cody impatiently waits for Darlene to visit his house and is ecstatic when she shows up with the water truck. The story ends with the knowledge that the water lady must deliver to ten families daily until she reaches all 200 families for the month. Author Alice B. McGinty provides the reader with a "quiet yet touching story" that "will open young readers' eyes in a multitude of ways." (“Set on the sprawling,” 2021)

Critical Analysis

The Water Lady is a picture book told in the third person. The story is simple in that it intertwines two lives that meet due to the need for water. It is rich in cultural details regarding the Navajo language and life on a reservation. Characters are depicted with Native American physical characteristics like dark tanned skin and braided hair. Illustrator Shonto Begay draws with soft watercolors that help bring about intricate colors of the desert like purple, light blue, light green, and red. The backdrop colors are lightly detailed with large brush strokes that will remind readers of an end-of-the-day dusk setting. Most faces are not intricately drawn but are detailed enough to see the demeanors and physical features of those in the illustrations. According to this book, Begay is Navajo and attended a federal boarding school on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Alice B. McGinty has won numerous awards for over forty books for children.

The strength of this book is based on a person named Darlene Arviso, who delivers water to people living on a Navajo reservation who face the plight of water shortage. Its weakness is that it fails to deliver a more extended story. Readers may enjoy We are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade with a similar idea involving water and the need to protect it from pollution.

References

McGinty, A. B. (2021). The Water Lady: How Darlene Arviso helps a Thirsty Navajo Nation. (S. Begay, Illust.) Schwartz & Wade Books.

"Set on the sprawling". (2021, March 30). The water lady. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved July 27, 2022, from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/alice-b-mcginty/the-water-lady/