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Summary
Summary
Boats of all shapes and sizes travel on the river, through the seasons, toward the sea. Who will you meet on the river?
This vibrant picture book from Brazil depicts the joy of the journey, showing in simple yet detailed illustrations the people you might meet along the way, the sights you might see and the food you might eat. Readers will delight in identifying recurring details when rereading. Reminiscent of the highly acclaimed Jimmy the Greatest!, which received six starred reviews, Along the River is a celebration of community bonds and shared experiences.
With strong social studies curriculum connections, Along the River introduces young children to an alternate form of transportation, as well as to some of the customs and culture of Brazil.
Author Notes
Vanina Starkoff was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is a graphic design graduate, but she discovered that her true passion lies in the beautiful world of images and children's books. She has immersed herself in that world ever since and, in love with the colors and landscapes she has always painted, she followed her heart to Brazil where she has lived since 2014.
Jane Springer is the author of Genocide , part of the Groundwork Guides series for which she is also the series editor. She is a consultant in international development and has lived and worked in Mozambique and India. She is also the author of Listen to Us: The World's Working Children and translator of the Portuguese-language books Nest Egg , Tales from the Amazon and When the Slave Esperança Garcia Wrote a Letter . Jane Springer lives in Toronto.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Argentinian artist Starkoff's book is set in the tropics: colorful boats crowd a river, sailing across the spreads. The water is golden, the color of sunlight, and the book's low, wide proportions underscore the sense of a slow, steady journey by water. "Everyone travels along the river," writes Starkoff, "by ship or boat or canoe." Vivid acrylic paintings show people living and working on the boats. Most have dark skin, and they're dressed in brilliant colors. One woman lives on a houseboat covered with cacti, a man pilots a floating kitchen, a barge carries musicians, and another man dozes next to a pile of watermelons. The hand-lettered names of the boats (My Heart; Thanks, Dad) will make readers grin. Starkoff's message about piloting through life-"You will have to discover... your own way and your own rhythm... while never letting go of your dreams"-takes on rich resonance when paired with the vision of life on the river, as people and boats of all shapes and sizes are carried along on the same current. Starkoff celebrates elemental human values: community, music, simple talk, food, and contentment. Ages 4-up. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
A joyful trip in an undesignated country uses the theme of everyone travels down the river to show the exuberance of water transport. The horizontal trim size is perfect for the boats' forward motion, as each page reveals yet another type of vessel: houseboats, cruisers, cargo ships, canoes, dinghies, and sailboats, all peopled with smiling, brown-skinned families. Each boat has a theme: Beautiful Smile sells flowers, Happiness School is packed with waving children, a surfboarder holds a smiling bikini-clad passenger, a musical boat contains an active rhythmic band. A restaurant boat ferries loving couples dining, and a long dugout carries ripe watermelons. Each vessel shares with the next, producing happiness and smiles all around through all four seasons as they continue downward to the sea, followed by a bevy of swans and a trailing bale of turtles. The acrylic digitized artwork uses vibrant colors; reds, greens, and blues pop against bright and sunny backgrounds. The journey ends delightfully when the endpapers announce that everything is good here and I am happy. --Gepson, Lolly Copyright 2017 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
IN 1930, the Little Engine That Could chugged up a hill to test his metal. Since then, countless books featuring anthropomorphized vehicles have followed in his tracks. One of the latest is Anna Dewdney's LITTLE EXCAVATOR (Viking, $17.99; ages 2 to 5) - which is, sadly, a posthumous title from the beloved creator of the Llama Llama books, who had intended to start a new series. Dewdney excelled at pairing rhyme with heartfelt artwork to convey her character's emotional journeys. The same skills are on display in "Little Excavator," as the book's determined protagonist struggles to help transform a vacant lot into a neighborhood park. Dewdney's drawings of construction vehicles are as expressive as her llamas, and when Little Excavator beams with pride at the end of the book, the reader will feel the warmth. Whereas Dewdney's Little Excavator wastes no time trying to prove his worth, the little bulldozer in Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann's BULLDOZER HELPS OUT (Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum, $17.99; ages 3 to 7) has to watch and wait before he can dig in. When the bigger trucks finally assign Bulldozer a job, he quickly realizes it's more important to stand your ground than move the earth. Whether depicting massive machinery or little kittens, Rohmann's solidly constructed and deftly colored block print illustrations make every page turn a delight. There is little doubt as to whether the trucks of Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichenheld's MIGHTY, MIGHTY CONSTRUCTION SITE (Chronicle, $16.99; ages 2 to 5) are up for the job, as Rinker's vigorous text attests: Rolling, rumbling, revving hard, ten big trucks meet in the yard. A mighty, massive SUPERCREW - there is nothing they can't do! Briskly paced and stylishly staged, this book's celebration of teamwork feels like the bombastic opening number of a musical as each truck gets to roll into the spotlight and strut its stuff. Lichenheld's cartoony oil-pastel illustrations are radiant and capture the grandeur of the construction site as well as the trucks' determination and pride. These trucks don't think they can - they know they can. Being on the job site with this can-do team will invigorate old and young readers alike. Before we can revel in our mastery, we must first learn the basics. This process can be frustratingly slow, but it can also lead to exhilarating breakthroughs. One such "aha!" moment is writ large in Stephen Savage's LITTLE PLANE LEARNS TO WRITE (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, $16.99; ages 3 to 6). Soaring high above city and pastures, Little Plane struggles with his skywriting and gets dizzy when attempting the "loopity-loops" that form the letter O. Perseverance pays offand Little Plane is literally over the moon when he finally learns to write. As both illustrator and author, Savage seamlessly blends image and word - essential given this book's subject matter. With its muscular design, saturated colors and crisp language, "Little Plane Learns to Write" is enchanting in its simplicity. The little red plane pops offevery full-page spread, and young readers will be frequent fliers for this adventure in writing. I pause here to note: It's puzzling that the characters in the above books, with the exception of some of the trucks in "Mighty, Mighty Construction Site," are all male. The themes of striving and achieving are as gender neutral as the vehicles themselves. If children's book publishers and authors are ever going to embrace the gender-neutral pronoun "they," perhaps stories like these would be a good place to start. Dispensing with plot and pronouns, but not personality, Carl Johanson's ALL KINDS OF CARS (Flying Eye, $16.95; ages 3 to 7) is presented as a pictorial dictionary. Flat colorful shapes playfully combine to depict the carefully observed (small dump truck, small loading shovel, snowmobile) and the completely imagined (castle car, chewinggum car, crystal car). The simple but cleverly rendered vehicles are likely to inspire children to grab some markers and get in on the fun. Exquisite design and seductive production values make picking this book up a no-brainer. Where to put it down - on your child's night stand or a living room coffee table - will present the bigger problem. Gus the pig, the good-natured star of Leo Timmers's GUS'S GARAGE (Gecko, $16.99; ages 3 to 8) also knows his cars and, as his ever-present smile attests, delights in inventing new ones. When a penguin overheats or a hare needs a turb charge they turn to Gus, who customizes their vehicles using the pile of "bits and bobs" heaped alongside his shop. Each page spread presents the garage from the same vantage point, and this well-crafted stage set allows the reader to track the refuse pile's dwindling inventory. By the end of the book only a little tree stands where the pile once stood. The tree provides a home for an odd assortment of birds, proving once again that everything can be made useful. This is an amusing book to reread, since even the smallest details are assigned a narrative purpose. Clearly, one animal's clutter is another pig's livelihood in this buoyant, rhyming tale. From recycling to cycling, Allan Drummond's PEDAL POWER (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $17.99; ages 4 to 8) is a timely political story told with a softtouch. In the 1970s, congested roads in Amsterdam were becoming increasingly dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists. Young moms like Maartje Rutten began to speak out and stage family-friendly demonstrations that included parties held in the middle of the street and hand-holding singalongs. Though these events were catnip to the local news media, it wasn't until a little girl was killed while cycling that the movement gained traction. As fuel prices skyrocketed amid a global energy crisis, drivers joined the cyclists in demanding change and together they transformed Amsterdam into the "bicycle capital of the world." Drummond's line work and coloring is loose and breezy and serves as a fitting counterpoint to the informative text. I especially liked that the police are not depicted as villainous and retain their humanity even as they confront the protesters. This book is a celebration of both cycling and political activism, and in these turbulent times it's inspiring to know that when the righteously motivated collectively march, shout, sing and pedal, the powers that be eventually yield. Though social change is usually a story of fits and starts, a more leisurely paced journey awaits readers in the pages of Vanina Starkoff's ALONG THE RIVER (Groundwood/ House of Anansi, $17.95; ages 4 to 8). Open, the book's long, narrow pages become the river itself. Drifting along, painted in succulent color and loving detail, are all manner of boats abundantly stocked with food, music and celebrations. Born in Argentina and now living in Brazil, Starkoffcreates a vivid tapestry of life that reminds us that the spirit in which you travel is more important than where you go. In one wry juxtaposition the text gently implores the reader to "search for . . . your own way" while "continuing to steer your own course." The accompanying illustration suggests otherwise: A man, eyes closed, is contentedly lying out on a longboat stacked with watermelons, while a dog naps on his chest. A flock of birds hitch a ride and a school of fish swim along. Whereas the construction trucks are all ambition and drive, this stunningly beautiful book presents a refreshingly new sensibility: Willpower alone can only get you so far; sometimes it's best to go with the flow. The murmur of a lazy river may calm one's nerves, but the distant sound of "wheels on steel" has always been an invitation to wonder. Where has that train been? Where is it going? Moving from dark forest to frozen tundra, from sleepy village to congested metropolis, Andria Rosenbaum and Deirdre Gill's TRAINS DON'T SLEEP (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $16.99; ages 4 to 7) covers a lot of ground. Though never explicitly stated, the book is also a dreamy journey back in time to the golden age of rail travel, when circus trains packed with bears, elephants and tigers would "sweep by sheep," and interstate highways had yet to be built. The illustrated glossary will help young train enthusiasts learn the difference between a flat car and a stock car, but it's the book's painted double-page spreads - at once monumental and ethereal - that are truly transporting. JAMES STURM is the author and illustrator of the picture books "Ape and Armadillo Take Over the World" and "Birdsong" and an author of the Adventures in Cartooning series.
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-Life on a river is an adventure; that's the message of this playful picture book from Brazil. "You'll have to discover your own way and your own rhythm while continuing to steer your course." Starkoff's minimal text and vibrant folk-style acrylic illustrations create a jovial feeling through thick lines and large splashes of color. Food, music, laughter, and fun prevail with a bright yellow background and spreads depicting the numerous vessels that travel down the river. Although the text is short and simple, the words are measured and flow like poetry. There is also signage on the boats that allows for additional reading. Overall, this feels inviting and provides a soothing read, although it lacks real depth or distinction. VERDICT A narrative with a good flow and strong illustrations that will draw young children in for a quick read or art prompt. A solid purchase for most collections.-Megan Egbert, Meridian Library District, ID © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A visual metaphor for life's journey presents a sunny, hopeful vision of both self-determination and community in this Brazilian import.While some readers may encounter it as a straightforward picture-book depiction of many people floating along a river in a variety of boats and other watercraft, there's ample potential for reading symbolic meaning into words and pictures. Simple phrases are juxtaposed with the vibrant acrylic illustrations (finished digitally) that show everyone traveling left to right with the page turns on calm waters that are the intense yellow of the sun. Boats, clothing, and other items are rendered in bright colors associated with the Caribbean, and most of the people have brown skin, with some sporting dreadlocks, others wearing head wraps, and still others with full, round Afro hairstyles. In an unusual choice for a picture book, most of the people are adults. Scattered environmental text painted on the boats ("Beautiful Smile"; "Everything is good here"; "I am happy") reads like affirmations, while the main text provides gentle advice about living a good life: "You will have to search for // your own way / and your own rhythm // while continuing to steer your course." This would make a refreshing alternative to Oh, the Places You'll Go as a perennial gift to graduates. A feel-good journey of a picture book. (Picture book. 4-adult) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
