Publishers Weekly
The impact of a natural disaster on a family unfolds in wordless, digitally created spreads in this first book from Argentinean illustrator Villa. In a small house near an inland body of water, a mother and her two children enjoy leisure time in the living room; outside, however, the family's father glances skyward with concern. Dark clouds barrel toward the house on the following page, swallowing up the eerily yellow sky. With rosy cheeks and red noses, the family constructs a stone barrier around the house, secures the windows, and departs for a hotel. In ghostly sequences, the floodwaters invade the empty structure, tossing furniture and wrecking the lower levels. Upon the family's return, a moment of despair transitions quickly into productivity as they repair the damage. . . .the book is a useful resource for adults to use with children, especially given the damaging hurricanes in recent years.
February 18, 2013The Wall Street Journal - Meghan Cox Gurdon
A final book for young children does not contain any words, and this seems right, because the shocking image to which "Flood" (Capstone, 32 pages, $15.95) builds, and from which it recedes, will leave the reader speechless. In a series of strongly colored paintings, Argentine illustrator Alvaro F. Villa shows a young family in a pretty clapboard house not far from an estuary. Bad weather is brewing: Great clouds boil toward the house as, inside, the family watches a TV weatherman warning of trouble ahead. Friends come with sandbags to encircle the house, but the rain gets too heavy, and the family has to leave. Though the final pages will lift the heart with scenes of renewal, the central image of floodwaters roaring into the family's living room, knocking pictures off the wall and foaming hungrily at the stairs, leaves an impression that no child will quickly forget.
January 25, 2013EarlyWord Kids blog - Lisa Von Drasek
This timely wordless picture book speaks volumes about coming of a storm and the resulting flood. . . .There is hope as the waters recede and although adults will shake their heads at the seemingly “easy” cleanup and restoration, children will find comfort in the sunny end.
March 1, 2013New York Parents Magazine - Jay Bushara, onepotato.net
Simple as its title. No words here – no need. . . .this story wrings a surprising dose of understated optimism from familiar recent events. Doomsday preppers: you can go home again.
April 1, 2013ForeWord Reviews - Julie Eakin
A wordless narrative of epic proportions follows a family’s survival as rising tides threaten and then consume their home. Stunning, full-bleed illustrations convey all we need to know about their ordeal: that they make it through the terrifying episode together.
January 1, 2014Books That Heal Kids blog - Roxanne
I've never seen a book like this. It's exceptional. The children who have recently experienced Hurricane Sandy came immediately to my mind. The pictures unfold so beautifully telling a story of a family who is trying to save their house from a flood. Their home is destroyed but it's the rebuilding that will help children understand when an awful tragedy happens - life can go on and you can be happy again. What makes Flood so powerful is it is wordless. This is a really smart and non-threatening approach to help children open up about their feelings and fears after a traumatic event. Most importantly it delivers the message that starting over is possible and can be positive. If you are working with children who have been impacted by hurricanes, floods, or any type of house tragedy (fire) please get this book. It's a very therapeutic and healing resource.
January 10, 2013Booklist Online - Daniel Kraus
Villa’s wordless picture book is a haunting look at a family whose home might be wiped out by a storm. Anyone who has lived through a hurricane will catch their breath at Villa’s unnerving watercolors, generously laid out across long, horizontal spreads. Familiar, nervous moments are found on every page: Dad preparing the windows while the kids, oblivious, play on the floor. The ominous glow of a weatherman delivering his warning soliloquies. Rain-battered volunteers surrounding the house with sandbags. And, of course, the worried family deciding to drive away, waving farewell to their brave, lonely house. The inability to know what nature has in store is quietly gut-wrenching—until a devastating spread depicts the interior of the house as storming with water, furniture being tossed like sticks. Villa’s sole, but significant, misstep is the too-quick turnaround: a single spread of house repair leads to the family enjoying a perfectly restored home. A worthwhile reminder that things are darkest before dawn, though not quite up to the visceral truths that make the rest of the book so moving.
March 26, 2013San Francisco Book Review, Kids Book Review - Rachel, Age 5
I thought that this book was very happy when they rebuilt their house. I am glad that they were still happy that they were still a family even though there was a flood. . . .[the] pictures were very nice.
March 1, 2013Susan Heim on Parenting blog - Susan Heim
Children learn that although scary storms and natural disasters may arrive, this is a time for their family to seek safety and comfort in each other. When they pull together, they can get through what happens and then rebuild their lives. Reading along with a grown-up, kids can talk about their fears and what it means to be a family. Flood is a beautiful book that you won’t soon forget.
March 12, 2013School Library Journal - Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT
This gripping story of loss and regeneration is told wordlessly through large, beautifully painted illustrations. The opening spread depicts an idyllic scene: blue sky, lush grass, and brother and sister playing outside their charming clapboard home at the edge of the water. But the next spread reveals gathering clouds in a red sky and an anxious parent looking over his shoulder as he installs storm windows. As the spreads progress, the clouds become black and roiling, rain pours down, and not even the sandbags they stack around the house assure the family’s safety. They pack a few possessions into the car, and after regretful backward glances, drive to a hotel. Ensuing pages reveal the storm’s fury as the sky blackens and waves crash inside the house, destroying furnishings and roaring threateningly toward the stairs. A bird perched on a broken branch stands out as a lone survivor. When the family returns, their grief is evident, but they move on to rebuild. Once again the scene is idyllic: contented parents look on as their children play outside the newly renovated home surrounded by freshly planted flowers and trees. This powerful story provides ample opportunities for youngsters to elaborate on the family’s emotions as they experience the destruction of their home and ways in which they were able to cope with this loss. Matt Doeden’s Floods (Pebble Plus, 2010) is a nonfiction explanation of floods and how they occur.
April 1, 2013Shelf-Employed blog - Lisa Taylor
...beautiful and moving, and ultimately uplifting…
January 12, 2013