The Story of Greenriver

This charming story from much loved author Holly Webb is, as the title suggests, set along the banks of the Green River. Young beaver Silken feels an outsider within her family and the community who live in the Beaver Lodge. No matter how hard she tries, she just doesn’t fit in and feels that somehow the other residents blame her for everything that goes wrong. Her favourite thing is to escape on her own and sing with the birds, although she has to hide this from everyone else, as ‘beavers don’t sing’.

After their home flooded last spring, everyone is worried about the river levels rising, but when something happens during the work to secure the lodge and Silken is once again blamed, she feels that she has no choice but to leave her home and search for answers about her true identity and where she really belongs.

Meanwhile, further down the river, otter Sedge knows that he should be more interested in the traditions and rituals of the otter holt, as he is now the heir to the Leadership following the loss of his sister in the great flood. He worries that he can’t remember her, but recently his dreams are becoming more vivid and, on the verge of recalling what really happened that night, Sedge feels driven to venture out onto the river in search of answers.

I won’t spoil what happens next but suffice to say this really is a truly heart-warming story, with a touch of magic, which ultimately shows the importance of family and belonging.

The characters are beautifully drawn, both in words and in the wonderful black and white pictures from illustrator Zanna Goldhawk. The environmental message about the effect of man’s actions on the animals that live alongside our rivers and the importance of nature, is subtly wound into the story, without any preaching.

Whilst a departure from her usual style of animal stories, this book has all the makings of a modern classic and will definitely appeal to Webb’s legions of fans and many more new ones.