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This Book Needs Water Just like millions of children in Latin America.

Designed as a symbol of water’s direct impact on a child’s ability to learn, The Dehydrating Book is the first book of its kind that needs water to be read. The story within, as imagined by the students of Palmira in Peru’s Cascas Valley, is a powerful reminder that access to water means access to education, opportunity, and a brighter future.

When Hydrated,
The Story
Comes Alive

Printed with special hydrochromic ink, the story magically appears when water is present but fades away completely without it – until water is added again.

Explore the Book
A book cover titled "The Thirsty Hummingbird". The subtitle reads: "a story that can oly be read when hydrated".
Pages of "The Thirsty Hummingbird" book that are hydrated and the content is visible.
Pages of "The Thirsty hummingbird" book semi-dehydrated. The content is not 100% visible.
Pages of "The Thirsty hummingbird" book completly dehydrated. The content is no longer visible.

This book can be read only when it's wet

A Toronto-based graphic arts studio made a book that can be read only when you pour water over it. It's a poignant symbol of the global water crisis.

The Dehydrating Book - The Shorty Awards

An international award show that recognizes and celebrates the innovation and creativity in digital and social media, by brands, agencies, nonprofits and individuals.

A student colouring a flower in her notebook
Three students sitting on steps, smiling as they look toward the horizon.
Two students doing homework in a dimly lit room.
One student sitting by himself doing his homework
One girl holding a pencil

Water Access is Education Access

Latin America is facing a water crisis that's holding children back. Millions of children are going to school dehydrated. They face illness, have difficulty concentrating, and miss out on opportunities.

Water For People is changing millions of lives through water, sanitation, and hygiene services for communities in Peru and around the globe.

Meet some of the book’s co-authors from the village of Palmira in Peru’s Cascas Valley where Water For People has been working to make
a difference.

A young girl in a white school uniform with a black tie wits at a desk and smiles for a portrait photo, she is looking straight to the camera.
A young boy in a white school uniform with a black tie sits at a desk in a classroom, resting his chin on his hands with a thoughtful expression.
An even younger girl wearing a pink sweater sitting at a desk.
A young girl in a white school uniform sits at a desk, resting her chin on her hands with a gentle smile.

Without Water, Children Can't Learn

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447 million children
lack basic drinking water worldwide.¹

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1 in 6 children
live in highly water-scarce areas in Latin America.²

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443 million days
of missed school globally each year due to waterborne diseases.³

Together, let's change the story
for children without water

Donate

¹ United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO). Progress on drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene in schools 2015–2023: special focus on menstrual health. New York, 2024.
² United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The climate changed child: A children's climate risk index supplement, UNICEF, New York, November 2023.
³ United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Human Development Report Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty, and the Global Water Crisis. UNDP,  New York, 2006.