# The Water Lady: How Darlene Arviso Helps a Thirsty Navajo Nation - Hardcover

by **Alice B. McGinty** (Author), **Shonto Begay** (Illustrator)

****This inspiring picture book tells the true story of a woman who brings desperately needed water to families on the Navajo reservation every day.****

Underneath the New Mexico sky, a Navajo boy named Cody finds that his family's barrels of water are empty. He checks the chicken coop-- nothing. He walks down the road to the horses' watering hole. Dry. Meanwhile, a few miles away, Darlene Arviso drives a school bus and picks up students for school. After dropping them off, she heads to another job: she drives her big yellow tanker truck to the water tower, fills it with three thousand gallons of water, and returns to the reservation, bringing water to Cody's family, and many, many others. Here is the incredible and inspiring true story of a Native American woman who continuously gives back to her community and celebrates her people.

### Author Biography

ALICE McGINTY is the award-winning author of over forty books for children, including _A Story for Small Bear_, as well as _The Girl Who Named Pluto_, which was called inspiring in a _Kirkus_ starred review. She also wrote _Darwin_, an Orbis Pictus Honor Book and one of Booklist's Top 10 Biographies for Youth, which received three starred reviews. Her picture book, _Rabbi Benjamin's Buttons_, was named a Sydney Taylor Notable Book. She also runs a writing camp for kids, Words on Fire. Visit her on the web at alicebmcginty.com or follow her on Twitter @AliceBMcGinty.

Shonto Begay is the illustrator of several picture books, including _The Mud Pony_, _The Magic of Spider Woman_, and _The Boy Who Dreamed of an Acorn_. He is the the fifth child of sixteen born to a Navajo medicine man. Shonto attended federal boarding schools all over the Navajo Indian Reservation in his elementary school years. Later, he attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico and received his Associate of Fine Arts degree, and later earned a degree from the California College of Arts & Crafts. He resides in Arizona.

**Number of Pages:** 44

**Dimensions:** 0.5 x 11.2 x 8.6 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** March 30, 2021

**Accelerated Reader:**

**Quiz Name:** Water Lady: How Darlene Arviso Helps a Thirsty Navajo Nation

**Interest Level:** Lower Grades, K-3

**Reading Level:** 3.8

**Point Value:** 0.5

## Details

- **Price:** 19.99 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 19.99 USD | In stock |

## Images

- The Water Lady: How Darlene Arviso Helps a Thirsty Navajo Nation - Hardcover

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> Updated: 2026-07-23