Of Words and Water: The Story of Wilma Dykeman
by Shannon Hitchcock, with illustrations by Sophie Page
KIRKUS REVIEWS
OF WORDS AND WATER
The Story of Wilma Dykeman--Writer, Historian, Environmentalist
Author: Shannon Hitchcock
Illustrator: Sophie Page
Review Issue Date: March 1, 2024
Online Publish Date: February 3, 2024
Publisher: Reycraft Books
Price (Hardcover): $18.95
Price (Softcover): $9.95
Publication Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN (Hardcover): 9781478870371
ISBN (Softcover): 9781478870470
Section: Children's
Seven years before Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) was published, Wilma Dykeman’s The French Broad (1955) illuminated the devastating effects of pollution. Featuring striking illustrations that make use of clay, paper, fabric, and wire, this book tells the story of Wilma Dykeman (1920-2006), a lesser-known pioneering environmentalist. Text presented in small but clear hand-lettering recounts her solitary childhood in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where nature was her constant companion. In winter, when her mother read aloud, Wilma fell in love with “the sound of words.” When her father died, the 14-year-old Wilma “knew her life would never be the same.” After earning a college scholarship, she left her mother and the mountains she loved. Following college, she met James Stokely, and her life changed again. Together, they lived in the Smoky Mountains and researched the lives of those who lived along the French Broad River, uncovering the water pollution that plagued their neighbors along the river. The publisher who accepted Wilma’s book about the river wanted her to excise the pollution story; she refused. Her aim was to inspire everyone to clean up the water; she argued that factories and businesses could coexist with clean water, to everyone’s benefit. She wanted to “use words to fight injustice,” and she did, in columns, books, and speeches. The author’s note adds details that deepen this stirring story. The pictures, many double-page spreads, dominated by blues and greens, are enthrallingly fresh.
Elevates a conservationist who deserves to be far better known. (Picture-book biography. 6-8)