Fatou, fetch the water

This brightly coloured and cheerful picture book tells the story of what happens when Fatou, daughter of the community seamstress in a Gambian village, sets off to fetch water for the evening meal. As she travels through the village, she is accosted by person after person, each of whom presents her with a gift of food in gratitude for the clothes her mother has made for them. The last person puts in a cash order for a new school uniform, and Fatou turns for home overburdened, her bucket, of course, empty.

Fatou is a simple, heartening story set in a vividly depicted rural environment. The rhythm of the narrative, with its richly modulated refrain of gratitude and gift-giving, each repetition involving a new, colourful garment and foodstuff, proved a real delight to the young readers who shared this book.