On the three spreads where the girl is pictured alone, she is never truly alone: her long hair flows into waves of water inhabited by fish and plant life, or she kneels at the water as her ancestors look back at her from its surface. Patterns of stars and flowers adorn the deep blue, turquoise, indigo, and purple tones. Most spreads picture nature scenes connecting humans in community with one another and with animals, water, and the universe.

Goade masterfully controls this medium, creating fine, delicate patterns clean lines and swaths of varying saturations that create a feast for the eyes.

On the first spread, Nokomis teaches the girl that “water is the first medicine.” Together, they stand waist-deep in water, Nokomis’s caring hand gently placed on the girl’s back, as the layers of water of different hues of blue bleed up into tree and leaf shapes, the way only watercolor can do. In the case of We Are Water Protectors, Goade’s illustrations immerse readers in the reality - physical and emotional - of our interconnectedness and our dependence on water. Often a book’s illustrations add to, play with, or stretch the meaning of the book’s text. And what important messages our society needs to hear right now. If there are two main takeaways from this book’s powerful text, those might be the ones. I instantly fell in love with the artist’s striking work, but seeing this one image was only the tip of the iceberg for me. Before I ever saw the book, I saw an illustration from one of its pages - the image of a determined young girl, used for one of Kweli's conferences. It stands out among the books published this year for its importance in our shared culture and for its elegant beauty. I simply cannot get enough of We Are Water Protectors.

We are water protectors publisher