Look! Look! (2024) is an adventure story for a village of people in rural India. A little girl has spotted something in a clump of weeds… What is it? And as they excavate further, they find more…
Before you know it, the girl and the other children and the whole village are in on the adventure of discovery. Is the rock part of an archaeological find? What is it after all?
To wit: they find an ancient space with a solution to a modern day need.
In this lovely picture book, the children are the heroes. They lead the way to a healthier future for the village.
The text reads like a sing-song poem, with full rhymes, half rhymes, and sometimes, no rhymes.
And the surprising lesson has real-world implications for people today.
This fictional story was written by Uma Krishnaswami, and the visuals were illustrated by Uma Krishnaswamy. Look! Look! is a profound call to both adults and children to observe but also to think through ways to address current challenges facing the world.
Shalin Hai-Jew has worked in higher education for many years. She has edited dozens of nonfiction educational books and authored a dozen with a number of publishers.
