If You Cry like a Fountain is a delightful picture book for early readers, highlighting the practical uses of tears. Vola sends across the message that it is ok to cry if one is upset.
I was a little confused at the beginning with the way the story started. It looked like the tearful worm was being shamed for crying, but the author soon started narrating the benefits of crying in a quirky manner and tied the story together to send across a positive message.
The creative and witty narrator tells what happens when one ‘cries better!’ And, oh! The colourful illustrations made by the author herself are very interesting. I am sure kids would enjoy looking at them and spotting the different crying animals and objects.
I liked how the author included silly instances like using tears for making a fountain, or for boiling pasta (of course, no salt needed!) or making pear jam! Now imagine only if tears could be put to practical uses!
Parents/teachers can use this book as a resource for discussing feelings and emotions.
If You Cry like a Fountain is a funny and imaginative book which children in the age group of 3-7 years are sure to enjoy.
Thanks to Tundra Books via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this novel. All opinions expressed are my own.
Wordsopedia Rating 3/5
| Title: If You Cry like a Fountain | Author: Noemi Vola |
| Publisher: Penguin Random House Canada, Tundra Books | Publication date: 09 Aug 2022 |
| Genre: Fiction – Children’s Fiction | Format: Hardcover |
| ISBN: 9780735270503 | No. of Pages: 48 |
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About the author
Noemi Vola was born in 1993 in Bra, a small town in Northern Italy. She is the author and illustrator of three books published by Corraini: From Here to Far Away (2019), A Book of Horses* (*Revolutionary Ones) (2018) and Bear with Me (2017), selected in the 100 Outstanding Picturebooks Exhibition curated by dPICTUS at the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair. Her book FIM? Isto Nao Açaba Assim (Planeta Tangerina, 2018) won the International Serpa Picturebook Prize in 2017 and was awarded Best Foreign Illustrated Book in 2018 at the Amadora BD Festival. Her illustrations for Bear with Me were selected in the 2019 Illustators’ Exhibition at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. She also works with magazines such as Vogue Kids, Mousse and AWW.