The River

Distinctive collage-like illustrations and poetic text in this spirited picture book describe the course of a river from its source to the sea. Four- to six-year-olds familiar with the cartoon genre will enjoy the ‘snapshots’ of the river at each stage of the journey. We have a truck which ‘makes splashes as it dashes across the widening stream’ and, later, a more peaceful impression of ‘the stream’s safe shallows, where a willow spreads its shadow’. But it is the sounds of the river which are brought most insistently to our attention. For example, ‘water laps with soft slop-slaps’ and ‘horns sound and little boats bob around’. This book would support early geography lessons on water and waterways. For once, we have a double spread that works well: one showing the shape of the whole river which gives some sense of size and scale. Children are also introduced to the language of comparison: now that the stream is ‘wider’ and ‘bigger’ it has become a river. But the evocative power of the images, both visual and verbal, make this a picture book worth reading out loud simply to be shared and savoured.