- Hardcover: 32 pages
- Publisher: Clarion Books; None edition (Feb 21 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0395967902
- ISBN-13: 978-0395967904
- Product Dimensions: 22.7 x 27.6 x 0.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 386 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,082,942 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4-This story takes readers through a year as a child observes the flora and fauna that live in or near an Alaskan river. Oil paintings on double-page spreads show different views of the river. The bears, otters, moose, salmon, and other wild creatures are the focus of the pictures, but the youngster appears in the sidelines in many of them. The paintings are very realistic, with lots of attention paid to the detail. The perspectives vary to show the various creatures'-eye views from the ground, the air, and under the water. The art is quite eye-catching and is nicely complemented by the poetic text. A glossary lists the animals mentioned and gives a bit of information about each of them. Young children will be drawn to the attractive illustrations and simple story, and older nature lovers will appreciate the more subtle elements like the author and illustrator's obvious affection for and excitement about their subject.
Arwen Marshall, formerly at New York Public Library
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Arwen Marshall, formerly at New York Public Library
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Beginning and ending in winter, this elegant book traces the seasonal changes of an Alaskan river. The descriptive text, filled with peaceful imagery, reveals the life the river supports and its interconnectedness. A small boy observes the drama of wildlife--the moose knee-deep in the river, a kingfisher swooping for salmon, a red fox scavenging along the riverbank--against a backdrop of spruce, cottonwood, birch, and willows. He builds a snowman by the frozen river, pokes at ice floes in the spring, fly-fishes in the summer, tosses leaves in the fall. Van Zyle, who is the official artist of the Iditarod, brings all the activity to brilliant life in his realistic oil paintings. Not unlike Thomas Locker's Where the River Begins (1984), this book reveals the vibrancy of the natural world. The useful glossary is worth reading for the curious facts it contains--male juncos sound like a jangling telephone, 32,000 brown bears live in Alaska, and more. Shelley Townsend-Hudson
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Alaska,
By
This review is from: River of Life (Hardcover)
This is an excellent lower and upper elementary informational picture book. Rich language is combined with double-page realistic oil paintings as the story of a year in the life of an Alaskan river is told. The river is shown to be a constantly changing home and source of food to many ecologically connected living things.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Alaska,
By Marie Summers - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: River of Life (Hardcover)
This is an excellent lower and upper elementary informational picture book. Rich language is combined with double-page realistic oil paintings as the story of a year in the life of an Alaskan river is told. The river is shown to be a constantly changing home and source of food to many ecologically connected living things.
5.0 out of 5 stars
THIS PERFECT BOOK IS A SATISFYING EXPERIENCE!,
By Elaine Campbell "Desert Dweller" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: River of Life (Hardcover)
The author and illustrator of this book are amazing. Together they create books of wonder. When you open the pages you feel right away like you are taking a journey into rural Alaska and meeting its river life in all its beauty for the first time (at least for most of us). Supposedly for children in grades 2-4, I would include younger, as well as older, children as well. As for adults, it's a real winner!It starts in the winter, then comes spring. We meet the various trees and birds of the setting, and then go below the river's surface to encounter salmon fry eating plankton and tiny insects, even a harlequin duck diving underwater in search of caddisfly larvae and insects. The kingfisher flies above "with a beak that looks too long for his head." And there is a beautiful illustration of a rainbow trout, a salmonid also known as steelhead. It's pink and gray colors are lovely. There is a moose sipping from the river when a playful trout slaps water into its face while a watchful child giggles from behind a tree. The illustrator, Jon Van Zyle, is an Alaskan artist and the official artist of the Iditarod. Then comes summer along the river, brown bears, otters and eagles catching salmon. And we get to know the soil, home to insects and plants. In summer, juncos feed on seeds of flowers and grasses while squirrels toss cones from the crowns of green spruce trees for seeds to eat through the coming winter. And winter does return. As the author, Debbie S. Miller, gifted in poetic prose, writes, "A sheet of winter ice tucks in the whispering river." And there is a gorgeous two-page layout of a winter panorama with many birds flying south, and we learn "Raven stays." Author and illustrator have collaborated on several prize-winning books. One of my other favorites is "Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights." If you like this one (and I can't imagine anyone not liking it), I highly recommend that one as well. |
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