cover image Drops of Life

Drops of Life

Esko-Pekka Tiitinen, trans. from the Finnish by Fleur Jeremiah, illus. by Nikolai Tiitinen. Cuento De Luz (IPG, dist.), $17.50 (24p) ISBN 978-84-15241-31-7

Finnish author Esko-Pekka Tiitinen offers a parable about kinship and caring for the environment, based on his play of the same name. When a dove gets lost, an owl helps her fly back to Africa; along the way, the birds meet a whale that saves its beached brothers and sisters. When they discover that the dove’s forest has become a desert, the wind carries a message to other animals, urging them to take part in replanting. The story is a bit of a guilt trip—the whales beach themselves “to say to the humans that the sea belongs to us, too,” and the animals literally water a tree with their tears. But Nikolai Tiitinen creates a hopeful atmosphere with soulful animals set against compositions of blazing fire and cool earth tones. Ages 5–up. (Apr.)