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River of Life
by Debbie S. Miller (Illustrator: Jon Van Zyle)
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Clarion Books (2000-03-20)
ISBN: 0395967902
EAN: 9780395967904
UPC: 046442967907
Dewey Decimal #: 577.64
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 32 pages
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
SKU: 03233
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: SIGNED and inscribed by author, minor edge wear on dust jacket.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
As the seasons change, a river in Alaska reveals its remarkable biodiversity. A great web of life is presented--the river and its shores sustain an astonishing variety of plants and animals. The river is home: salmon fry and rainbow trout live in it, plankton drifts in its current. The river is food: bears and bald eagles catch salmon, big fish chase little fish, tree roots absorb the river water. This evocative nonfiction picture book follows a year in the life of this Alaskan river. The lyrical text and lush paintings introduce young readers to the sights and sounds of the river and its inhabitants and are rich in details certain to fascinate ecologists of all ages.
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Customer Reviews
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THIS PERFECT BOOK IS A SATISFYING EXPERIENCE!
Rating  (5)
Date: 2009-06-11
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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Beautiful Alaska
Rating (5)
Date: 2000-08-13
5 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
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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