Synopsis
Katherine and her friend, an older man named Carl, celebrate the seasons on their river together, until his absence requires her to grow and change as their special relationship changes
Reviews
A gentle story about the special relationship between a young girl and her elderly neighbor and the connection both of them feel with the nearby river. Every morning Katherine can hear the old man yell to the river in his booming voice and the river softly answering. She can hear the river's music, but only the old man can make the river resound. While Katherine learns water activities from Carl, the evocative illustrations present the river in the changing light of the seasons. Readers move from the brightness of snow to luminescent green and murky brown, on to shimmering yellow, ending with the muted sunshine and cool blue of a fall morning. One day, Carl becomes ill, and goes to stay with his sister. All fall the river stays as silent as the chilled chickadees until Carl returns. And yet all is not the same. He can now speak only in whispers; it's up to Katherine to make the river talk. In her loudest voice she calls, "Good morning!," and the river finally answers her back. The telling of the story is smoothly paced, gathering its tempo from the passing river. Ray's illustrations are impressively rendered in soft, flowing watercolors. A book that gives readers a sense of the continuous passage of time as the seasons change, the river travels on, and the relationship between Katherine and Carl builds and grows. --Martha Topol, Interlochen Public Library, MI
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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