Books For Keeps
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Articles
  • Past Issues
  • Latest Issue
  • Authors and Artists
  • Latest News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
March 12, 2021/in Picture Book 8-10 Junior/Middle /by Ellie
BfK Rating:
BfK 247 March 2021
Reviewer: Carey Fluker Hunt
ISBN: 978-1406397222
Price: £12.99
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd
Genre: Picture Book
Age Range: 8-10 Junior/Middle
Length: 40pp
Buy the Book

I Talk Like a River

Author: Jordan ScottIllustrator: Sydney Smith

The boy narrating this stunningly beautiful picturebook wants to talk about the natural world surrounding him, but finds it difficult to say the words that fill his head. ‘The P in pine tree grows roots inside my mouth and tangles my tongue,’ he tells us, and on a ‘bad speech day’ he can’t find the right sounds to say anything at all.  
On one level, it would be true to say that I Talk Like a River is about stuttering, but there’s so much more to the lyrical and intensely immersive experience it offers than such a label would imply. Feeling different or left out; expecting to be mocked; living with stomach-churning anxiety – these things will sadly strike a chord with children everywhere, and give this personal account its universal edge.     
After school on one particularly distressing day, the boy’s father takes him to the riverbank. Quietly they look for colourful rocks and water bugs. And there, watching the rush and churn of the water as it flows across the landscape, the boy’s father says something that shifts his world and makes him see things differently. 
‘See how the water moves?’ he asks. ‘That’s how you speak.’
In a series of visual close-ups, the river tumbles past the boy, and we sense change coming. Turning the page, we find ourselves face-to-face with him. Sunlight streams onto his shoulders and illuminates his ears, and broad lines suggest his brows and downward-looking eyes. As we open the gatefold a rush of pure energy is released, and we see him wading into water that shimmers with reflected light. 
That life-changing comment – pulled from the moment and intensely apt, but also somehow slippery – was made by a father to one specific child: his son, the writer of this picturebook. Jordan Scott grew up to become a poet, and it was this experience by the riverbank that stopped him trying to ‘overcome’ his stutter and led him towards a better understanding of his own, unique way of communicating. This picturebook ends with a similar idea. The boy returns to the classroom to talk about the visit to his favourite place: the riverbank. And in telling everyone about the river, he talks like the river – with all its stops and starts, its rush and babble and its many moments of calm. 
This poetic and deeply memorable picturebook has a quality that stops you in your tracks and pulls you in. It addresses one child’s experience of stuttering, but categorising it as an ‘issue book’ or expecting it to provide a quick-fix message for children who stutter would misrepresent this book’s intention and appeal. I Talk Like a River is a personal account of discovery: one that takes us to the heart of an experience and shows us what it’s like to live another life. It’s affecting and accessible, and offers different learning opportunities, depending on our needs. 
Sydney Smith is known for his ability to play with light, and for the dark line that has characterized his work thus far. Light falling through windows, onto water, and – memorably – through earlobes is still a major feature here, but, eager to capture the essence of Scott’s poetry, Smith has pushed his own boundaries in this book. Gone is the dark line, to be replaced by watercolours that feel less certain, together with a range of approaches that communicate intense emotion – just look at the spread where the clearly-delineated classroom on the left-hand page dissolves into a sea of faces on the right, or the close-up that follows, dominated by the boy’s enormous ikon-eyes and sgraffitoed with lines depicting the crows and pine trees in his mouth.   
These images don’t just show us how the boy feels, they make us feel it, too. I Talk Like a River is a lyrical and intensely visual exploration of how it feels to struggle to speak out. It has something of universal importance to communicate, and will resonate with readers of all ages.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png 0 0 Ellie http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png Ellie2021-03-12 19:28:332021-04-07 19:53:10I Talk Like a River

Search for a specific review

Author Search

Search







Generic filters




Filter by Member Types


Book Author

Download BfK Issue Bfk 272 May 2025
Skip to an Issue:

About Us

Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.

Read More

Follow Us

Latest News

Choice and reading relevant to their interests = reading for pleasure

June 11, 2025

Ross Montgomery wins the 2025 FCBG Children’s Book Award

June 7, 2025

Michael Rosen and Emily Gravett IBBY UK nominations for Hans Christian Andersen Awards 2026

June 4, 2025

Contact Us

Books for Keeps,
30 Winton Avenue,
London,
N11 2AT

Telephone: 0780 789 3369

ISSN: 0143-909X (this is our International Standard Serial Number).

© Copyright 2025 - Books For Keeps | Proudly Built by Lemongrass Media - Web Design Buckinghamshire
Weird, Wild and Wonderful: The poetry world of James Carter Stars with Flaming Tails
Scroll to top