I Get Wet

I GET WET
By Vicki Cobb
Illustrated by Julia Gorton
HarperCollins, 2002

Category: Picture book non-fiction

It has been raining in central New England all week. I am sick of being wet. And yet …

My daughter and I have been playing with water indoors all week. Why? Because we found Vickie Cobb’s I GET WET at the library and, well, we are hooked. I GET WET is not a book you cuddle up on the couch and read together. Rather, this is a book you refer to now and again while you are elbow deep with water experiments in the kitchen. We are talking hands-under-the-faucet, water-all-over-the-place, little-minds-expanding, play-while-you-learn fun. And it all starts with this 32-page picture book.

The activities in I GET WET center on helping kids to understand the properties of water that allow it to “wet” things. By filling cups, saucers and pans with water, they come to appreciate the flowing nature of water. By watching water drip slowly from a faucet, they begin to understand the concept of cohesion (it’s NEVER called that in the book, of course). By experimenting with wax paper and paper towels, they begin to wonder about how water interacts with other materials.

I love this book. And, joy of joys, it is one of a series … Vicki Cobb’s Science Play series also includes I FALL DOWN, I SEE MYSELF, and I FACE THE WIND.

Surely the sun will be back by the time we are done!?