A River

by Marc Martin

There is a river outside my window.

Where will it take me?

So begins an imaginary journey from the city to the sea. From factories to farmlands, freeways to forest, each new landscape is explored through stunning illustrations and poetic text from this award-winning picture-book creator.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Nature, Adventure, Environment, Storytime, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 25, 2015

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully illustrated book. A young girl imagines what a journey would look like down the river she can see from her bedroom window. She lives in the city but the river takes her to changing landscapes. The text is calm and dreamlike, the illustrations are enchanting and full of detail, ideal for a child to become absorbed in. A perfect bedtime read.

[Karen Witzler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been reading this year's New York Times list of Best Illustrated Children's Books. In this one a young child imagines a boat sailing down a river in a city traveling through farmland, forest, rainforest, mountains and waterfalls, etc. down to the sea. The illustrations are indeed intricate and lovely but the text is so lackluster that this would have worked better as a wordless picture book.

[Erin Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, the illustrations in this book from the cover and throughout were BEAUTIFUL! I genuinely adored them so much and they add so much more to the text, I read this book twice and each time noticed something new. I liked the way this book was about a child's imaginary journey from their room through the river they often look at, out their window. Such a lovely written and illustrated book!

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pleasant picture book, although not, to me, very memorable.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations!
What would we do without imagination?

[☼Bookish in Virginia☼]

~ review copy from the publisher

A RIVER is a magical book, a pretty book. A RIVER begins with an artist sitting at a desk in front of two windows. Flowing off to the left and right is green hued river that is weaving it's way through a city. It's not clear whether the figure is an adult or a child. It seems 'female' but not markedly so.

And it doesn't really matter because Marc Martin puts that character and us on boat on that river and as we float along we get to view dramatic changes of scenery. We leave the city and find farmland, for example, but not before we see the less desirable aspects of the city.

It flows beside the factories with their machines grinding
and plumes of smoke rising into the sky.

Soon though we've zipped past the factories and the surrounding land gives way to hills and green valleys; then to jungle and a waterfall before we head out between mangrove trees to the open sea.

~

NOTES:
-- The text of A RIVER is simple, but the artwork and rich panoramas will allow you to use this book to discuss imagination, art style, and the environment with children. Something as simple as pointing out that you've gone with the main character on a journey without leaving the room can be a new consideration for the child of the right age.

-- The art style is varied and uses different techniques, but overall the pages are dark rich rather than bright and cheerful. This book might be more attuned in this way to adult tastes.

-- There are many ways to tie into science units. There is everything from the importance of rivers, to pollution and the Water lifecycle that are relevant.

And, of course, you can just read it and delight in the beautiful art and the text.

[Pine Reads Review]

“And I think I see my silver boat, floating in the moonlight, drifting past my window once more.”

A River follows a young girl with an imagination bigger than the city she lives in. Beautiful illustrations tell the story of a child as she turns the river running through her home into a magical world. Floating through different spaces, she ultimately discovers that inspiration lies not only in the outside world but within her very own bedroom, too.

This story took me back to the early aughts when my mother would read to me before bedtime. A River is similar in style to children’s classics like The Rainbow Fish, and this made the story feel like a warm hug long overdue. Marc Martin has an art style that evokes nostalgia with every turn of the page. Words in this tale are scarce, but frankly not even needed, as I was so taken with Martin’s illustrations and the lovely world he takes us through on the little silver sailboat. I tend to gravitate towards fantastical stories, but I am reminded of the joy that can be found in the day to day. Martin’s book is not strictly magical; there are no dragons, mermaids, or ghosts. Yet, his story of a girl sailing on a river through her home provides just as much sparkle as any fantasy world could. The sweeping skyscrapers, rolling hills, and expansive ocean in Martin’s illustrations seem to hide exciting secrets of their own. It feels like I could also unlock these small mysteries in life, if only I cared to look.

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[Phoebe · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the textured cover is the best and only feature of the book you can remember after three months, you begin to wonder if it was all a waste of time. A River was received w/ critical acclaim i.e. a person at a newspaper w/ clout named this Book of the Year. IMO the representation of was too restrained and even a bit kitschy in a 2020 way. FYI, it should've been a concertina book to create a more seamless yet intentional transition between the urban and the wild. Flipping pages doesn't do it for this kind of narrative.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunning art, with quiet moments to give readers a break from the epic scenery. The writer/illustrator's text won't impress some readers (the child's "voice" reads like an adult, and often states what's obvious by the visuals), but his visuals should captivate anyone. I'm definitely going to check out his apparent companion book, A Forest.

[Alex Baugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The narrator of this book is a young girl sits at her desk drawing when she looks out the window at the river flowing by outside. Seeing how it stretches out in the distance, the narrator begins an imaginary journey floating down the river in a silver boat. Floating through a busy. congested city, past factories and their dark, dirty smoke, moving through the countryside past farms, past a waterfall taller than a building, finally entering a jungle full of different vegetation and animals, on to the ocean with its variety of fish, then into the midst of a powerful ocean storm, only to find herself back at her desk, her daydream shattered by the heavy rain outside her window. This is a nice book for introducing young readers to the different environments in the world. The colorful, dramatic illustrations are done in watercolor, gouache, pencil and digital collage, and both compliment and extend the simple observations made by the young girl on her journey. After reading A River, go back to the first page and see how many of the prompts you can find that were incorporated into the daydream. There is must to discover and discuss in this lovely book

[Victoria Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book to a year 4 class on school based training. Despite it being a picture book, they were engaged from the beginning and loved "noticing" things in the images that helps to explain the story further. They loved making connections too; after reading it to them I was constantly flicking backwards and forwards for them to point out things from the beginning of the story that were relevant to the adventure.
It was also a good consolidation for their rivers topic in school; the childre were able to point out features of the river and guess at which features might come next.
I would love to own my own copy of this book to use in schools.

[Dimity Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful crafted and presented, Martin weaves an exquisite journey based on the meandering water course of a river as imagined by one little girl from her city room window. There are elements of find and seek in this exposition, stitched beautifully together with poetic prose and Martin's rich illustrations.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful way to start talking about habitats and transitions.

[Anastasia · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has beautiful illustrations, but not a lot of sense. Idk what books like that exist for. Visual pleasure only, maybe. Not my thing. Plus, not my preferred style of illustrations.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picture Books Count.

I love the opportunity and the dreaminess of this one. You are lost in the adventure and the illustrations. The environment continues to bring awe.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations and a nice simple introduction to the life of a River.

[Frances Coe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetic beauty. The most gorgeous lines of text accompanied by stunning illustrations. Loved it

[Angelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just lovely! Wonderful colour palette, too!

[DonutKnow · Rating 4 out of 5]

The watercolour is very beautiful 😍😍😍

[Gabriella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. I think could used as a topic book for both English and cross- curricular links. I like how the front cover is textured. I put the boom at year 3 level because I think many literacy opportunities could occur.

[Iqra Fiaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully illustrated story that maps out where a girl's imagination takes her. I particularly like the textures of the cover, not many books feel like this or have textured covers so it made it nicer to hold and made it feel like a more special book.

[Carrie Gelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning

[will · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely stunning book, with a great message about imagination and exploring the world. There are plenty of hidden details in the illustrations, and setting the river's beginning as the Thames in London gives the readers a concrete location to set the scene. Great for stirring the imagination of younger readers.

[Meghan Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marc Martin's richly illustrated picture book tracks a girl's imaginative journey following the river outside her city apartment window. The toys and decorative flourishes in her room become the prompts that she uses to create a rich world. Engaging, beautiful, detailed, gentle.

[BrookesEducationLibrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enchantingly illustrated book that follows a river all the way back to the sea through the imagination of a young girl watching over it from her bedroom window.

Martin's prose is dreamlike and calming, even during the storm and this would be a good bedtime story :)

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful illustrations. They are delicious.

[Romain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une petite fille rêve devant la fenêtre de sa chambre. Elle regarde la rivière et se laisse emporter par les flots. Elle est seule à présent à bord d’un petit bateau. Il vogue à travers la ville et quitte peu à peu le monde des hommes et la pollution pour rejoindre la nature. Elle traverse ainsi de nombreux paysages et se dirige vers l’océan.

J’ai tout de suite aimé ce livre lorsqu’un enfant l’a choisi – par hasard ou intrigué par la couverture – pour me le faire lire lors d’une sortie à la médiathèque. J’ai tout de suite aimé l’idée du pouvoir de la pensée et des rêves qui permettent de nous transporter ailleurs. Et quel meilleur guide pour cela que le cours d’une rivière. Elle traverse la ville sans être gênée par le flot des voitures. En la suivant on se retrouve rapidement dans la nature, voguant vers la liberté la plus totale matérialisée par l’océan.

La mise en oeuvre est très simple. Chaque double page présente un paysage différent qui est simplement accompagné de quelques phrases. Elles invitent au voyage et à la rêverie. Ce petit livre tout simple est un bon moyen de terminer une journée par un peu de poésie avant de s’embarquer sereinement pour un voyage vers le sommeil.

http://aubonroman.com/2018/01/une-riv...

[Beth Tabler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a quiet and contemplative book. Full of soft and colorful graphic that impart an air of wonderment from page to page. It follows the imagining of a child sitting at their drawing desk looking out their window at the world beyond them. Traveling from window to window is a long winding river. The child begins to imagine themselves aboard a small ship traveling the currents of the river place to place, all while they remain safe in the bosom of their home. The river journey is long and wild. It goes through cities, farms, factories, hills, and valleys. It travels over waterfalls and down into the neverending darkness of the ocean at night. Once the adventure is done, the child comes back to himself and is sitting back at their drawing table in the dark, the river always there snaking from window to the other having had a fantastic adventure indeed.

Although this is a picture book, the beauty of it is that all of us, adult and children alike, have sat at a desk longly gazing out the window and wondering what journey is before them. The same can be true of planes, or oceans. Adventures abound even though we are stuck inside looking out the window. We can all relate to this brave heart in a child.
This is a subtle and beautiful book worthy of your child's attention or sitting on a shelf being admired by all. I highly recommend checking it out.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin, Marc A River Unpaged. Chronicle Books, 2017 (Copyright 2015 by Penguin Group in Australia). $17.99. PICTURE BOOK

A girl looks out her window at the river that stretches out in both direction. She imagines herself in a small silver boat that follows the river through the city, then past factories, farms, hills, a waterfall, and finally past the jungle and mangroves to the ocean. After seeing clouds and hearing raindrops, she finds herself back at her window.

This book is full of rich illustrations of several different habitats that extend to the edges of the pages. Teachers can use this book to introduce these habitats, as well as the water cycle. It also is a good example of where our imagination can take us.

EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE. Reviewed by P. K. Foster, MLS, teacher- librarian
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017/...

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The little girl who imagines the river is clearly a budding artist, because she sketches as she views the river from her bedroom window, imagining where it might take her. Then she becomes a passenger in a boat in each riverscape as the pages turn. The way the colors shift as author/artist Martin moves us from scene to scene is impressive; although similar in style, no two scenes replicate one another in any way. I love the vivid use of color and the way each picture is teeming and vibrant with life. Even in the factory scene, with its machinery and smog, the reader gets a sense of the urgency and thrum of bustle and activity; things are happening in every depiction. A New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children's Book of 2017.