Water

In this stunning debut volume of the photo-essay series The Elements, Robbins (Power Machines; Bridges) combines handtinted photographs and spare, poetic text to celebrate the many forms and uses of water. Oversized pages and an understated design give center stage to the photos; large, softly colored, they capture a wide range of scenes, from the eerie rolling fog on a beach in Nantucket to the towering desert mesas of Monument Valley, the dragon-like puffing of a steam train to a baby's baptism. Handwritten captions identify the subjects and their geographic locations, heightening the illusion that the reader is browsing through a personal photo album. Although the text is marred by distracting internal rhymes (e.g., ``When water gets cold enough, it's not liquid anymore-it's no longer wet, and the stuff won't pour''), it is both easy to read and packed with information. Ages 5-8. (Nov.)