Jump to page 58 for a deeper look NORTH AMERICA page 48 The Mystery The Mystery of the of the Watering Hole Watering Hole SAINT LUCIA SAINT LUCIA page 20 The Waters The Waters of Sulis of Sulis ENGLAND ENGLAND Travel to page 51 to meet Autumn Peltier a clean water activist in Canada ATLANTIC OCEAN page 40 Rimac and Rimac and Chaclla Chaclla PERUPERU SOUTH AMERICA Climb to page 26 to follow water to the treetops of towering redwood trees PACIFIC OCEAN Dive into page 33 to find out about a discovery of giant tube worms near the Galapagos Islands Trek to page 39 to see the wonders that water brings to the Amazon Rainforest Travel the world with eight Travel the world with eight storytellers from around the globe storytellers from around the globe 10 Dip into page 63 to see how Georgie Badiel of Burkina Faso uses water to help girls go to school SOUTHERN OCEAN B A
ARCTIC OCEAN page 34 The Battle of The Battle of Baal and Yamm Baal and Yamm LEBANON LEBANON EUROPE AFRICA page 28 Where the Water Where the Water Lily Grows Lily Grows ZIMBABWE ZIMBABWE ANTARCTICA Jump to page 59 for a deeper look page 54 The River The River Sisters Sisters CHINA CHINA page 12 The River The River of Life of Life INDIA INDIA ASIA INDIAN OCEAN Visit page 38 to read about the great Sahara where water is scarce Explore page 30 to follow the journey of the ocean’s Global Conveyor Belt page 8 Tekelmarae and Tekelmarae and the Boy Who the Boy Who Remembered Remembered VANUATU VANUATU OCEANIA Glide to page 17 to read about the enormous Antarctic Ice Sheet A C D E 11
The River of Life INDIA Retold by Meera Sriram Long long ago in southern India there lived a kind king named Kavera Every day he prayed to the gods for the prosperity of his people Pleased with his devotion Brahma the god of creation appeared before him and said Dear Kavera you will soon be blessed with a child who will bring glory to your kingdom Kavera named his daughter Kaveri after his own name and raised her lovingly Kaveri grew up with a generous heart and strong spirit She longed to make her father and his people happy During this time a powerful demon tormented the gods in heaven and destroyed beautiful things on Earth With the gods of rain and thunder in hiding the land grew thirsty Forests began to shrivel Fish gasped in drying lakes Across parched lands crops wilted while birds and beasts died Troubled the gods begged Shiva the lord of gods for help Shiva promised to restore Earth soon Meanwhile Kaveri’s heart ached seeing her land and people suffer She was determined to find a way to help If I take the form of a river she thought I could spread far and wide and give life to everything on my way But for this Kaveri needed special powers from the gods As Kaveri sat in prayer seeking the powers to chase her dream Agastya a great wise sage on a journey southwards passed by Impressed by Kaveri’s dedication he approached Kavera for permission to marry her The king out of kindness and respect submitted to the revered sage’s request and Kaveri wished to please her father 12
However Kaveri’s mind was still set on her desire to water the land She was going to keep her dream alive Finally she spoke up I will marry Agastya on one condition He can never leave me alone Not even for a moment And if he does I will forsake him to follow my heart and serve the people The sage agreed and they married One day Agastya wanted to set out to meditate on a faraway hilltop Afraid to leave Kaveri alone he used his yogic powers and transformed her into water so he could carry her with him in his small waterpot Restless Kaveri sloshed inside waiting for her chance As Agastya sat with eyes closed Shiva who had also been waiting for the right moment to save the land watched from above He sent his son Ganesha to release Kaveri Ganesha morphed into a crow swooped down the hill and knocked the waterpot over Kaveri eagerly spilled onto the cracked earth her dream finally flowing into the world Agastya was enraged But the crow briefly revealed his true self as he flapped away And the sage soon realized it was the work of Shiva It was time for Kaveri to rise Kaveri bubbled into a small pool and gurgled as she scampered across rocks and crooks She quenched the dry earth and brought it to life again As she meandered through valleys and plains flowers bloomed and fields flourished Kaveri swelled into a mighty river and snaked through lands before merging into the deep sea Along the serene banks of the Kaveri River the kingdom thrived Poets sang her glory and scholars praised her bounty Kaveri was born to give life And as a river she did just that 13
