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About What Is A
Product Description “What is a river?” an inquisitive young girl asks her grandmother as the pair sits together on the river’s banks. Like many questions posed by curious children, this one is deceptively simple in its asking. Yet, its answer spans the very world itself: geography and history, science and religion, industry and environmentalism. Through author-illustrator Monika Vaicenavičienė’s eyes, the river becomes a vessel for enormous complexity, a lens through which the interconnectedness of our shared earth can be understood. From School Library Journal Gr 3-5-A teenage girl walks with her grandmother to a nearby river. The granddaughter wants to make a wreath of flowers and leaves; Grandma plans to complete an embroidered tablecloth. "Grandma, what is a river?" the girl asks. "A river is a thread," her grandma says. "It embroiders our world with beautiful patterns." Illustrations show grass and weed-covered riverbanks, many with sketchbooklike ink or pencil line drawings. The headings on each page use words that describe rivers as sources of refuge, reflection, and movement. Grandma mentions rivers located in other countries and continents (the Amazon in South America; the Pearl River Delta in China). As they leave the riverbank, the girl places her wreath into the river, with a small wave. The grandmother and her granddaughter are drawn with light skin. The end papers depict Grandma's tablecloth, heavily embroidered with the day's lesson. VERDICT A fascinating introduction to rivers that could inspire kids to learn more.-Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker P.L., OHα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Review “The curious little girl narrator and her grandmother while away time at a riverbank in Vaicenavičienė’s dreamy look at rivers and their significance to the world, in this picture book for older readers translated from Swedish. Grandma embroiders a tablecloth, and the girl collects flowers, when she asks, “What is a river?” The answers, one per double-page spread, explain many aspects of rivers, not only in the context of their features but also in a way that emphasizes our interconnectedness with nature. A river is a thread connecting people and places, says Grandma; a journey, a home, and much more. Each minilesson explains facts about rivers―for example, how deltas are created, which animals are nourished by the waterways, and how ancient Greeks thought that the world was encircled by one great river. These facts are beautifully illustrated and complemented by multimedia paintings and drawings, rendered in plenty of exquisite blues, of people, animals, plants, and more that sustain and are sustained by rivers. A book that can create a bedtime reverie and be used for nature study is a lovely find.” ―STARRED REVIEW, Booklist “The book is reminiscent of an artist’s diary, with type that has a handwritten feel and artwork that is fully fleshed out interspersed with simple pencil sketches. The beautiful, softly colored illustrations offer plenty of details and asides that invite readers to further explore the pages. Strategically placed questions offer even more opportunities for readers to get immersed in the book―and to come away with a better understanding of the complexity and importance of a river in our shared world. Readers may never look at a river the same way again.” ―STARRED REVIEW, Kirkus *Reviewed in the New York Times Book Review, 4/18/21 " What Is a River? [is] part prose poem and part encyclopedia, exploring the many things a river is and can be, ecologically and existentially... The narrative weaves in the encyclopedic—geology and history, curious statistics about famous rivers—but fact and feeling remain entwined in the poetic." —Maria Popova, Brain Pickings About the Author Born in Lithuania, Monika Vaicenavičienė graduated from the Konstfack Art School in Sweden. What Is a River? is her debut picture
