Three girls follow an old trail to find a pond tucked out of sight. Dan Brewer and Paul Paolilli tell the whole walk in cinquains, one short poem to a page.

Readical Key Points

• Picture book for ages 4 to 8 (preschool to grade 3); hardcover, 32 pages, WorthyKids, 2026
• Illustrated by Dao Thuy Linh
• Told in American cinquains. Back matter covers the pond ecosystem, the threats it faces, and how the cinquain form works
• Starred review, School Library Journal, April 2026

As the girls walk, the pages fill with pond life, from bullfrogs and dragonflies to sycamore leaves on the move. Each page carries one poem in the American cinquain form, so the story advances in small, clear steps that read well aloud. Dao Thuy Linh's watercolor and mixed-media art gives the plants and animals room to be looked at. The closing pages step back to explain how a pond ecosystem works and why it is at risk, then show young writers how a cinquain is built.

Parents, teachers and librarians can share it first as a read-aloud nature walk, then return to the back matter for a lesson on habitats or on writing short poems. The story keeps the pace of a walk that stops often to look.

About the Authors and Illustrator

Uncle and nephew Dan Brewer and Paul Paolilli write together; their first picture book was Silver Seeds. Illustrator and animator Dao Thuy Linh, originally from Vietnam, works in Brno, Czech Republic.

Condition: Brand New and Readical Ready.

Readical™ is an independent bookstore and reading-products brand built around a simple idea: books matter most when what we learn leaves the page and enters our lives.

Apply the Page. Get Readical™.