The Water Princess Builds a Well

Created and Developed by Allie Alejandra Joyner for Create Curiously Learning Resources

Inspired by The Water Princess Builds a Well

Written by Susan Verde and Georgie Badiel

Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Explore The Water Princess Builds a Well through story, curiosity, creativity, and connection. Learners follow Georgie Badiel’s journey, notice the people and actions that contribute to change, and discover what access to clean water can make possible for a community.

Through our Read, Notice, Wonder, Create, and Connect journey, learners explore how a childhood dream can grow into shared action. They look closely at words and illustrations, ask questions, and create a shared Well of Possibilities. Every Drop Matters: each learner’s ideas, questions, and creative contributions add to what we discover together.

The experience also invites learners to consider their own communities with care: What do we wonder about? Whose experiences and ideas can we learn from? How might we work together to make a difference?

Our guiding question:

What does a well hold, and what can it make possible?

Through this experience, learners will:

• Ask questions about the story and the possibilities it presents.
• Use details from the words and illustrations to explain their thinking.
• Notice the people, relationships, and actions that contribute to change.
• Create a visual response showing what clean water can mean for a community.
• Consider how listening and learning can guide our actions.

Curiosity begins the conversation. Creativity gives learners a way to express what they discover.

Grade Levels:
PK–Grade 6, with flexible options for drawing, writing, and discussion.

Time:
Approximately 30–45 minutes. Allow extra time for extended conversation, or split the experience into two shorter sessions.

Suggested pacing:

Follow your learners' lead, adjusting the pacing to allow for learners' questions, participation, and creative work. Reading The Water Princess beforehand requires additional time.

Materials:

• A copy of The Water Princess Builds a Well
• One sheet of plain paper per learner
• Pencils
• Crayons, colored pencils, or markers

Optional:
• A copy of The Water Princess
• Chart paper to collect questions and shared ideas
• A space to display learners' creativity

Let's begin by reading The Water Princess Builds a Well, co-authored by Susan Verde and Georgie Badiel and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds.

Suggested invitation for younger learners:
“Today, we’re stepping into a story that can help us discover more about our world. You might find a word you love, an illustration you want to look at a little longer, or something that makes you wonder. Let’s see what we discover together!”

Suggested invitation for older learners:
“As we read, let’s explore how someone’s experiences can shape what they care about and inspire them to act. Notice the language, the illustrations, and the people who contribute along the way. What connections or questions emerge for you?”

There’s so much to enjoy here: rich language, expressive illustrations, and a journey that opens possibilities for conversation and connection. You’ll know which moments invite a pause and when your group wants to keep turning the pages.

Possible curiosity sparks for younger learners:
• “What caught your eye?”
• “Did a word or phrase stay with you?”
• “What feels familiar? What’s something you’d love to know more about?”
• “What are you wondering right now?”

Possible curiosity sparks for older learners:
• “Which word or phrase feels especially powerful? What makes it stand out?”
• “What do you notice about whose experiences and perspectives we encounter?”
• “How does this moment connect to something you’ve read, experienced, or wondered about?”
• “What question would you like to ask Georgie?”

One of the joys of sharing literature is experiencing more of the world together. A place, a cultural detail, or a person’s experience might spark a connection or open a question none of us had considered before. Through shared language, stories, and understanding, we help our children discover connections, appreciate differences, and imagine how they can contribute to a kinder, more connected world.

Make it your own:
Mix and match these invitations wherever they fit. A question can travel across age groups, and an unexpected observation can take us somewhere wonderful. There’s room to enjoy the story now and carry a few questions into our next discovery.

Let’s revisit a few pages that stayed with your learners. Looking again can reveal a detail we missed, deepen our understanding, or help us see someone else’s perspective.

Suggested invitation:
“What’s a moment you’d like to look at again? Let’s see what else we discover.”

For younger learners:
• What did Georgie hope for?
• Who helped? What did they do?
• What changed for the community?
• What do you notice in the pictures?

Learners might point to an illustration, describe a moment, or talk through an idea with a partner.

Suggested prompt:
“I noticed __________. This helped me understand __________.”

For older learners:
• How do Georgie’s experiences connect to her goals and actions?
• How did different people contribute to the outcome?
• What changes for the community, and which details show why those changes matter?
• What do the illustrations communicate beyond what the words tell us?

There’s room to explore how learners reached an interpretation, too: “What in the story led you to that idea?”

Suggested prompts:
“The detail __________ suggests __________.”
“The words and illustrations work together to show __________.”
“At first I thought __________. After looking again, I think __________.”

Make it your own:
Choose a few questions that fit your group. These options can overlap across ages, with learners drawing, speaking, writing, or using their preferred way to communicate.

The shared goal is to connect what we notice with what we understand.

This is where a detail becomes a question, and a question opens a new possibility.

Curiosity gives learners a reason to look closer, connect ideas, and seek understanding. When we make room for their questions, they can help shape where the learning goes next.

Suggested invitation:
“We’ve noticed so much together. Now, let’s see what those discoveries make us wonder.”

Our guiding question:
“A well holds water. What else can it make possible?”

Offer a quiet moment to think, followed by partner conversation or a few shared responses. Learners might build on an idea from the story, discover a connection, or hear something that changes their thinking.

For younger learners:
• “What could having clean water nearby help someone do?”
• “What might be harder to do if clean water weren’t nearby?”
• “What would you like to ask Georgie?”
• “What are you curious about when you look at this picture?”

Suggested prompts:
“I wonder __________.”
“How does __________?”
“What would happen if __________?”

For older learners:
• “How might access to clean water affect different parts of daily life?”

• “How might not having clean water nearby affect those same parts of daily life?”

• “What choices or opportunities might become more difficult?”

• “What does the story help us understand? What would we need to investigate further?”
• “Whose perspective could help us learn more?”

Suggested prompts:
“This makes me wonder __________ because __________.”
“To understand __________, I’d like to learn more about __________.”
“My question connects to __________ in the story.”

Let one question grow:
Choose a question that sparks interest in your group and explore it briefly:

“What have we already noticed that connects to this question?”
“What could help us find out more?”

Capture a few questions or invite learners to carry one into their creative response. They don’t all need an immediate answer. A question worth returning to can give your next reading, conversation, or investigation a meaningful purpose.

Make it your own:
Choose the invitations that fit your group and follow the questions that emerge. There’s room for learners to surprise us and for us to wonder alongside them.

Our Well of Possibilities

Let’s give our discoveries a place to take shape. With plain paper and drawing or writing supplies, learners can make their thinking visible and bring something of their own to the story.

Suggested invitation:
“We’ve noticed, wondered, and explored together. Now, let’s create something that shows what clean water makes possible and how people contribute to change.”

Draw your water drop.
Draw a large water drop in the middle of the paper, leaving space around it for more ideas. A quick sketch together can help everyone get started.

Inside the drop: Show a possibility.
What can people do or experience when they have access to clean water?

Draw or write an idea connected to the story. This might be an everyday use of water or a possibility that access to water opens.

For younger learners:
Show one possibility through a picture, words, or both.

Suggested prompt:
“Clean water helps people __________.”

For older learners:
Explore how access to clean water can lead to another change. Show that connection through words, pictures, or arrows.

Suggested prompt:
“Having clean water nearby makes __________ possible, which can __________. A detail from the story that supports my thinking is __________.”

Around the drop: Show what helps change happen.
Who contributed to the work, and what did they do?

Add a person or group from the story and an action they took.

For younger learners:
Draw or name someone from the story and show their contribution.

Suggested prompt:
“__________ helped by __________.”

For older learners:
Show how different contributions connect. What could people accomplish together that would have been harder to accomplish alone?

Suggested prompt:
“__________ contributed __________. This connected with __________ to help __________.”

At the bottom: Keep your curiosity growing.
Add a question from our Wonder conversation or a new one that emerged while creating.

Suggested prompts:
“I still wonder __________.”
“My next question is __________.”
“I’d like to learn more about __________.”

Make it your own:
Learners can draw, write, dictate, use their home language, or communicate through their preferred method. These options can overlap across ages. One thoughtful picture can hold as much meaning as several written sentences.

Keep the pages ready for our Connect conversation, when we’ll bring individual discoveries together into “Our Well of Possibilities.”

Each water drop holds an idea. Bringing them together gives us a chance to discover connections, hear another perspective, and see how our thinking has grown.

Suggested invitation:
“Let’s bring our discoveries together. What might someone else’s ideas help us notice that we hadn’t thought about yet?”

Display the pages as “Our Well of Possibilities, Every Drop Matters,” invite learners to hold them up, or begin with a partner exchange.

For younger learners:
• “What would you like to share about your water drop?”
• “Did someone show an idea that connects to yours?”
• “What is something new you noticed?”
• “What could we make better in our classroom by working together?”

Suggested prompts:
“My idea connects to __________.”
“Someone else helped me notice __________.”
“Together, we could __________.”

For older learners:
• “How do our different ideas expand what we understand about clean water?”
• “Which connections do you see between access to water and other opportunities?”
• “How did someone else’s interpretation add to or change your thinking?”
• “What can we learn from the collaboration in this story and apply to our own community?”

Suggested prompts:
“At first I thought __________. Now I’m considering __________.”
“Our ideas connect because __________.”
“One lesson we could carry into our community is __________.”

From connection to possibility:
Choose a classroom or school idea that interests your group. Wonder together:

“Whose experiences could help us understand this better?”
“What would we like to ask them?”
“What is one small step we could take together?”

That step might be listening to classmates, asking a school staff member a question, or discovering an effort already underway. There’s room to begin with learning more.

Return to our guiding question:
“A well holds water. What else can it make possible?”

Invite learners to reflect on how they would answer now, drawing on the story, their creations, and one another’s ideas.

Make it your own:
Choose a few invitations that fit your group. Learners can share aloud, talk with a partner, point to their artwork, use their preferred communication method, or reflect quietly.

A story ends on its final page, but the learning it inspires can keep growing.

Our Well of Possibilities holds questions we might return to, connections we haven’t made yet, and ideas that could grow when someone else adds their perspective.

A small conversation can become a shared investigation. A learner’s question can bring a family’s knowledge into the classroom. A collection of water drops can become a gathering place for community ideas.

Let wonder travel home:
Invite learners to share their creation, or a question from the experience, with someone at home.

“We’ve been wondering what clean water makes possible. What would you add to our Well of Possibilities?”

Families might share an everyday experience, a memory, or a question of their own.

Possible conversation starters:
• “Where do we notice water in our everyday lives?”
• “What does water help us do that we sometimes take for granted?”
• “Do you have a story or memory about water?”
• “What would we like to learn more about together?”

A drawing, a remembered phrase, or a question shared in any language can bring that conversation back into our learning community.

Create a shared wall where every drop matters:
Imagine a bulletin board or shared wall where every water drop holds a piece of someone’s thinking: a discovery, a question, a story, an inspiration, or an idea.

Begin with learners’ creations and leave room for families, other classes, and community guests to contribute. Plain paper cut into water drops, or pages with drops drawn on them, can keep the experience simple and welcoming.

An invitation to contribute:
“What drop of thinking would you like to add?”

• “I discovered __________.”
• “This inspired me to __________.”
• “A story I’d like to share is __________.”
• “What if we __________?”
• “I still wonder __________.”

Contributions might include drawings, words, photographs, or dictated ideas. Each drop brings another perspective into view.

Every Drop Matters carries two meanings:
Every drop of water is precious and helps sustain life. Every contribution to our shared learning matters, too, helping our understanding grow.

The wall can become a living collection of curiosity, creativity, and connection. Revisit it together:

“Which ideas connect?”
“What did someone else help us see?”
“What new possibility is taking shape?”

Let community knowledge join the conversation:
A family member, librarian, gardener, local water professional, or community organization may offer experiences that help us learn more.

Learners could choose a question, help shape an invitation, or discover how water supports different kinds of work nearby.

“What could we learn from your experiences?”
“What would you invite us to wonder about?”

These exchanges help us recognize the knowledge already around us and build relationships through shared learning.

Let curiosity open a next step:
Perhaps learners explore where local water comes from, read another story, investigate how a well works, or learn about an existing community effort. Perhaps they carry a thoughtful question into their next conversation.

These extensions can unfold over time, wherever they fit your community. One conversation, one connection, or one shared question can be enough to begin.

Every drop matters. Every story can deepen our understanding. Every shared question can plant a seed of wonder.

Before her story became a book, Georgie Badiel lived it.

Growing up in Burkina Faso, Georgie experienced the daily journey to collect water. Her childhood inspired The Water Princess. In The Water Princess Builds a Well, which she co-authored with Susan Verde, readers discover how that early dream grew into action.

Georgie is a model, author, and founder whose work connects her experiences with a commitment to clean water access. Her journey invites us to consider how something we care deeply about can become a purpose we pursue with others.

An invitation to wonder:
“How can our experiences shape what we notice and inspire us to act?”

The work behind the story continues.

The Georgie Badiel Foundation supports clean water access in Burkina Faso through sustainable water projects, including building and restoring wells.

Exploring the foundation’s work connects our reading with people and communities working toward lasting change. It also opens new questions about the knowledge, relationships, and ongoing care that make water access possible.

An invitation to explore:
• “Who contributes to bringing clean water to a community?”
• “What needs to happen after a well is built?”
• “What could we learn from the people involved?”

Visit the foundation’s website together to learn more about its projects and the continuing journey behind The Water Princess Builds a Well.

What does courage feel like? Where does creativity begin? How can a story help us see the world differently?

Susan Verde invites readers into these questions with warmth, playfulness, and room to discover their own answers. A bestselling author, former teacher, and children’s yoga and mindfulness expert, she creates stories that celebrate our experiences and open possibilities for connection.

So many stories. So many places to begin.

Her I Am collection includes I Am Yoga, I Am Peace, I Am Human, I Am Love, I Am One, I Am Courage, I Am Me, I Am We, and Who I Am.

Her picture books also include The Museum, You and Me, My Kicks, Rock ’n’ Roll Soul, Hey, Wall, Unstoppable Me, Can You See It?, Are You Listening?, Body Beautiful, Sallie Bee Writes a Thank-You Note, and Sallie Bee Says “I’m Sorry.”

Her Feel-Good Fairy Tales include The Three Little Yogis and the Wolf Who Lost His Breath, The Tossy-Turny Princess and the Pesky Pea, and Tortoise and Hare.

For grown-up readers and families, Susan’s work includes Mommy Love and her memoir, Say One Kind Thing.

The Water Princess and The Water Princess Builds a Well, which she coauthored with Georgie Badiel, invite readers into a journey from childhood hope to community action, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds.

An invitation to wonder:
“Which story might help you discover something about yourself, someone else, or the world?”

What might your learners discover with New York Times bestselling Author Susan Verde?

Her books offer many places to begin: finding courage, exploring creativity, noticing the world through our senses, or discovering how we belong and contribute to a community.

Through Create Curiously, we can build an experience around the stories and ideas that resonate with your learners. A visit with Susan might open into creative exploration, movement, reflection, or a learning lab where learners try their own ideas. Collaborations with fellow authors and illustrators can bring additional perspectives and possibilities.

The connection can begin before the visit and keep growing afterward, through questions, classroom discoveries, and creations that make the experience your own.

Let’s imagine an experience for your community.
Explore the possibilities for your school, library, or community organization.

What can happen when we make a mark, try an idea, or see the world a little differently?

Peter H. Reynolds invites readers to explore these possibilities through stories and illustrations that celebrate creativity, courage, and connection.

Stories to Discover and Revisit:

Peter’s books include The Dot, Ish, Sky Color, The North Star, The Word Collector, Say Something!, Be You!, Happy Dreamer, So Few of Me, Rose’s Garden, Playing from the Heart, The Smallest Gift of Christmas, and Our Table.

From finding our own direction in The North Star to exploring creative expression in Playing from the Heart, his stories invite us to notice our strengths, follow our ideas, and discover what we can bring to the world.

Stories Created Together:
Peter’s collaborations include the I Am books with Susan Verde; The Water Princess and The Water Princess Builds a Well; Going Places, coauthored with Paul A. Reynolds; and When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left and The Reflection in Me, written by Marc Colagiovanni.

In the Water Princess books, his illustrations bring Georgie’s journey into view through color, expression, movement, and detail. His pictures give us places to pause, look again, and discover something the words leave for us to notice.

An invitation to wonder:
“What can an illustration help us feel or understand without saying a word?”

What happens when the spirit of a story grows into a studio, a gathering place, or a community of creators?

Peter and his collaborators have helped build spaces where storytelling, learning, and imagination come together. Each offers another way to explore ideas, connect with others, and discover what creativity can make possible.

FableVision Studios: Stories brought to life

Founded by Peter and Paul Reynolds, FableVision Studios brings storytelling, art, and technology together through animation, games, interactive experiences, and educational media.

Its team of artists, writers, designers, and developers creates experiences that invite people to learn, imagine, and see new possibilities.

The Reynolds Center for Teaching, Learning & Creativity: A place to grow

Based in Dedham, Massachusetts, the nonprofit Reynolds Center creates opportunities for learners, educators, and communities to explore their creative potential. Through workshops, storytelling experiences, professional learning, and creative retreats, Peter, Paul, and their team invite participants to try ideas, make discoveries, and connect with fellow creators.

An invitation to keep exploring:
“Where could your creativity take you, and who might you create alongside?”

The Blue Bunny: A little bookshop with room for big ideas

In historic Dedham Square, The Blue Bunny brings together books, art supplies, and inspiration for readers and makers of all ages. Peter’s independent bookshop offers a welcoming connection to his creative world, whether you visit in person or browse from afar. You can also buy signed and personalized books, prints, and artwork through his online shop.

What if curiosity shaped how we experience learning?

Create Curiously is building an educational movement that brings curiosity, creativity, connection, and collaboration into the heart of learning. We’re opening conversations about what learning can feel like and developing experiences that invite learners to question, imagine, create, and contribute.

Reimagining the Learning Experience:
Through story-inspired programs, author collaborations, creative learning labs, and educator professional learning, we connect meaningful ideas with opportunities to explore them. Our work makes room for learner voice, flexible thinking, shared discovery, and the relationships that help learning grow.

We bring schools, libraries, families, and community partners into that conversation. Together, we can design experiences where a question opens an investigation, a story inspires a creation, and individual ideas become something a community builds together.

A Learning Movement Shaped Through Participation:
Every learner brings experiences worth recognizing. Every educator brings knowledge worth building on. Every community holds possibilities we can discover together.

We’re developing programs, resources, and partnerships that turn those beliefs into everyday learning experiences, with simple materials, thoughtful invitations, and space for wonder.

For Allie Alejandra Joyner, Founder and CEO of Create Curiously, a story is often the beginning of a much larger conversation.

A bilingual educator with more than 20 years of experience, Allie has worked across classroom teaching, intervention, instructional technology, curriculum development, and professional learning. As former Director of Innovative Solutions at FableVision Learning, A Peter H. Reynolds Company, she also developed author programs, led national and international professional learning, and built educational partnerships.

Across those experiences, one question continues to guide her work:

“How can we create learning experiences that invite people to discover what they’re capable of?”

Through Create Curiously, Allie brings that question into collaborations with educators, authors, illustrators, families, and communities. She develops pathways that carry inspiration into participation, giving learners opportunities to explore their questions, express their ideas, and create something meaningful.

This experience grew from that same spirit: a story opens a conversation, a water drop holds a learner’s thinking, and a shared wall becomes a place where community understanding can grow.

Let’s Keep the Conversation Growing.
Connect with Allie to exchange ideas, explore a collaboration, or imagine what learning beyond the pages could look like in your community.