Manjhi Moves a Mountain and The Water Princess - Two True Stories About People Who Decided to Change Their Worlds

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by Valerie Chase

 

This week's blog post reviews two books about real life heroes who decided to change their worlds - and did!

 

Georgie Badiel wasn't always a famous model. She used to be a little girl in Burkina Faso who dreamed of accessible clean water. Her story is told in The Water Princess by Susan Verde, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. 

 

Dashrath Manjhi lived in a small village in India. His impoverished village was separated from a more prosperous village by a mountain. Manjhi dreamed of connecting the two villages, and so he did, by chipping away at the mountain with a hammer and chisel over the course of 22 years. His story is told in Manjhi Moves A Mountain by Nancy Churnin, illustrated by Danny Popovici. 

 

The Water Princess

As a child in Burkina Faso, Georgie Badiel had to walk three hours every day with her female relatives to fetch water for their family. She dreamed of finding a way to bring water to her village so the women would not have to make the arduous daily journey. 

Georgie grew up to become Miss Africa in 2004. From there her modeling career took off and today she is a successful international model. 

Georgie did not forget the child she had been who dreamed of running water for her village. She founded the Georgie Badiel Foundation, which helps to provide clean drinking water and sanitation to the people of Burkina Faso. 

The story of Georgie's childhood is told in The Water Princess by Susan Verde, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. The book ends with Georgie dreaming of bringing clear water to her village "someday." Georgie grew up to help raise awareness of water security issues and to bring clean water to many people in Burkina Faso.  This is an educational and inspirational story for kids from Kindergarten through third grade.  

 

 

Manjhi Moves A Mountain

Manjhi lived in an impoverished village in India. His village was separated by a mountain from a more prosperous village where the villagers enjoyed fertile farm land, a health clinic, and a school. Manjhi knew it wasn't fair that the people of his village had to cross the mountain to farm or visit the health clinic and school. Then one day he realized what he had to do. He traded his three goats for a hammer and chisel. He got to work chipping away at the mountain. His fellow villagers thought he was crazy. Manjhi chipped away at the mountain for 22 years, until he had carved a pass through the mountain! Manjhi had done the impossible and connected the two villages so the people of his village could have a better life.

The true story of Manjhi is told in Manjhi Moves A Mountain by Nancy Churnin, illustrated by Danny Popovici.  It is a great read for kids from Kindergarten and up. Download the publisher's curriculum guide to take the learning further.  The curriculum guide has a recipe for the popular Indian bread roti, as well as a brief introduction to Hindi.