• Age: 6 to 8
• Grade: 1 to 3
• Reading age: 6 to 8

Anna fetches water from the spring every day, but she can’t carry it on her head like her older brothers and sisters. In this charming and poetic family story set in Jamaica, Commonwealth Prize-winning author Olive Senior shows young readers the power of determination, as Anna achieves her goal and overcomes her fear.

Olive Senior was born in Jamaica in 1941. She lives both there and in Canada. Her first collection of short stories, Summer Lightning (1986), won the Commonwealth Literature Prize. She has published two subsequent collections of short stories, The Arrival of the Snake Woman (1989) and The Discerner of Hearts (1995). She has two collections of poems, Talking of Trees (1985) and Gardening in the Tropics (1995). She has written on different aspects of Caribbean culture and was editor of Jamaica Journal.

Olive Senior's profile page

LAURA JAMES is a self-taught painter and illustrator whose African- and Caribbean-American heritage and love of color, design and story inform her work. This book was inspired by her mother, a homemaker, nanny and domestic worker, along with Laura’s paintings in the Nanny Series. Her art has appeared in many solo and group exhibitions, textbooks and film, and the picture books Anna Carries Water and Boonoonoonous Hair! both by Olive Senior. Laura lives in the Bronx, New York.

Laura James' profile page

• Commended, Rainforest of Reading selection
• Commended, CCBC Best Books
• Commended, Kirkus Reviews Best Books list
• Commended, New York Public Library Best Books list

"Beautifully illustrated, printed, and written, author Olive Senior and illustrator Laura James together have tapped into a story instantly understandable to a child from any culture in this wide world in which we live. Sibling jealousy, the desire to be more grown-up than you are, and a good old-fashioned ridiculous fear combine to make this one of the more charming books I’ve seen this year."

School Library Journal blog

★ "James, of Antiguan background, allows her bold acrylic paintings in tropical colors to sprawl across wide double-page spreads of lush Caribbean landscapes. The hummingbirds and butterflies add a bit of whimsy to Anna’s cover portrait...When water easily comes out of a faucet, young readers rarely think about the difficult chore of carrying water, but they will empathize with Anna’s desire to reach an important milestone."

Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"James's vibrant paintings will capture readers' eyes as they pore over minutiae, such as a fly on the kitchen table or brilliantly colored butterflies and birds in the fields. Little details...will enable children to realize those in other parts of the world aren't as dissimilar as they might believe."

School Library Journal

"Simple, yet heartwarming...A good book to introduce how children live across the world. It is also a great book to start the conversation about how children have overcome their own limitations successfully."

Reading Today Online

"Brilliantly illustrated."

Southern Maine Library District

'The rhythmic and lyrical text and the brightly coloured and interesting illustrations will make this picture book a good choice for a read aloud."

Resource Links

"A gentle story about growing up. Anna's goal is simple, but the text doesn't trivialize her frustration at not being able to carry water the 'grown-up' way...James's stunning illustrations...capture the beauty and colour of the Jamaican landscape, as well as the warmth of Anna's family...Anna's triumph will delight young readers."

Quill & Quire

Anna Carries Water