River
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Caldecott Honor winner Elisha Cooper invites readers to grab their oars and board a canoe down a river exploration filled with adventure and beauty.
In Cooper's flowing prose and stunning watercolor scenes, readers can follow a traveler's trek down the Hudson River as she and her canoe explore the wildlife, flora and fauna, and urban landscape at the river's edge. Through perilous weather and river rushes, the canoe and her captain survive and maneuver their way down the river back home.River is an outstanding introduction to seeing the world through the eyes of a young explorer and a great picture book for the STEAM curriculum.Maps and information about the Hudson River and famous landmarks are included in the back of the book.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Seen from a distance, a woman in a canoe waves goodbye to people on the shore and sets out on a journey: "Three hundred miles stretch in front of her." She's paddling the Hudson River from the Adirondacks to the Atlantic Ocean. Sweeping pencil-and-watercolor layers trace rocks crowding the river and clouds crossing the sky. The woman's solitude is underscored in lyrical prose: "There is nothing in the world but her, the bird, this place. No one knows where she is." Cooper (Big Cat, Little Cat) makes the difficulties of the expedition clear: "She staggers the canoe balancing on her shoulders down the steep gravel path next to the dam. She trips, drops the canoe." When she reaches the city, lively scenes greet her as all kinds of traffic plies the waters around Manhattan. As she completes the last, most dangerous part of the voyage out to the Atlantic, readers share in the paddler's satisfaction. The woman changes during her journey, and the Hudson does, too, growing from mountain cataract to mighty waterway. An author's note fills in a bit about the river's history, but in this expansive, beautifully rendered offering, the attention is all on the voyage and the moments, tender and tense, that comprise it. Ages 4 8.
