Look! Look!

As a young girl walks along a well-worn path, she sees something unusual. “Look! Look!” she calls to her friends who come around and help to clear away dirt and weeds from the area. They discover stones piled upon stones and call out again to tell their families the news. Soon villagers from neighbouring communities hear of the discovery and come out to help uncover an ancient well. The girl’s grandmother recalls stories from when she was a child, stories about ancient wells that helped to irrigate the land. The rediscovered well fills with water when the rain comes and replenishes dried-up springs. Soon the dry land is alive again, green and fresh with the effort of the community to recover the centuries old well.

Poetically written, this story emotes joy upon each new discovery with the refrain of the children calling “Look! Look!” throughout the village. The illustrations created by Uma Krishnaswamy emphasize this joy visually with brightly coloured images created in acrylic, poster colour and watercolour. There is so much for the reader to discover in the art which reflect the life of the community as people work, children play and nature blossoms.

Uma Krishnaswami’s lovely story about community brings the message of people working together to help solve the challenge of climate change, one village at a time.