Imagine passing a summer drifting up and down a slow-moving river, watching as cranes, turtles, raccoons, otters, and ducks grow accustomed to your presence. Envision days spent poling the raft through lily pads and grasses, glimpsing foxes through the trees on shore. On hot, sticky nights, picture a tent set up on the raft, from which you have an unobstructed view of huge bucks drinking from the moonlit river. Nicky has no idea what he's getting into when his father drops him off for the summer at his grandmother's cottage in the woods. And he's not especially pleased at the prospect. "There's nobody to play with ... She doesn't even have a TV." But this "river rat" is not the normal kind of grandma. Without pushing, she quietly allows Nicky to discover for himself the wonders of river life. Gradually, Nicky's interest in drawing the wildlife he sees brings him closer to his artist grandmother, and to an inner peace that looks as though it will last for a lifetime.

Jim LaMarche draws on his own childhood summer experiences for this lovely, serene story. As the light and weather change through the summer, the river reflects all the beauty of the season. LaMarche has illustrated many remarkable and award-winning picture books, including the magical Little Oh and The Rainbabies. (Ages 4 to 9) --Emilie Coulter


From Publishers Weekly
LaMarche (The Rainbabies) filters an evocative tale of a summertime idyll in the Wisconsin woods through a series of exquisitely rendered pastel drawings. Equally adept at portraiture, landscapes and closely observed nature studies, he uses light adroitly; here he bathes his images in the bewitching glow of a riverfront dawn and dusk. Sent to spend the summer with his grandmother, an artist and self-proclaimed "river rat" living in a remote cottage, young Nicky believes he's in for a tedious vacation. However, his days quickly fill up with quiet adventures when he discovers a raft covered with drawings of wild animals. His grandmother teaches him how to navigate the river, then sets him free to explore; he soon begins sketching all the animals he sees, from birds and turtles to foxes, raccoons, otters and the like. LaMarche neatly sidesteps sentimentality as he spins his story, subtly and realistically chronicling the growing bond between grandmother and grandson. It's the artwork, however, that is the star of this show. From details such as the graceful curve of a bird's wing or the soft, quick outline of a raccoon's furry coat to mood-setting landscapes of a line of birches just visible through an early-morning mist or the masterful blending of lavenders and grays with a touch of pale peach to evoke the onset of dawn, LaMarche gets it all just right. Ages 6-up. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5-This dazzling picture book is an artistic triumph. LaMarche introduces young readers to a visually resplendent, magical world that is nevertheless so real they can almost touch it. Nicky, a sweet, sullen little boy from a middle-class urban household, feels hurt and abandoned when his father deposits him at his grandmother's home in the woods for the summer. "Dust rose up behind our car as it disappeared into the pines," Nicky mourns to himself in the story's opening paragraphs, looking for all the world like a puppy put out in the middle of nowhere. After finding a decorated raft adrift in the nearby river, the child and his artist grandmother pass sun-drenched days floating on it. He credits the raft with helping him befriend a growing menagerie of preternaturally tame woodland creatures, all of which he incorporates into a burgeoning passion for drawing and painting of his own. Nicky's descriptive first-person narration supports the radiant, expressive illustrations that are the book's greatest strength; his eyes and face communicate an array of instantly recognizable childhood feelings. LaMarche imbues the beauty and wonder of nature with an otherworldly glow that leaves the river and woods gilt and gleaming, even after nightfall. Readers who see this enchanted forest through Nicky's eyes will almost certainly recognize it again for themselves in summers to come.Catherine T. Quattlebaum, Bartram Trail Regional Library System, Washington, GA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The New York Times Book Review, Scott Veale
His richly observed, luminous watercolors are in perfect balance with the text.


From Booklist
Gr. 2^-4, younger for reading aloud. In this picture book for older children, bespectacled young Nicky has to spend the summer with his grandmother while his father works long hours at the plant. He's not happy: Grandma doesn't have a TV, and her cottage is full of books, drawings pinned to the walls, and fishing tackle. But when an old raft covered with sketches of animals drifts to the dock near Grandma's cottage, Nicky is intrigued. Grandma teaches him to pole up the river and drift back down. They rig a tent, Nicky sleeps on the raft on hot nights, and Grandma shows him her favorite swimming place. But most of all, Nicky gives himself over to the fascination of the animals that he sees along the banks and swimming alongside the raft: turtles, herons, foxes, otters, and raccoons. Finally, Nicky discovers the urge to sketch them. His rescue of a fawn allows him, at summer's end, to add his own drawing to the floor of the raft. The text floats above the double-spread illustrations that softly and carefully radiate natural details, making the images seem like wisps of myth and memory. The sunlight on the dock and in Grandma's cottage and the moonlight and dawn on the river are rendered with particular grace, while the figures of the animals are lively and direct. GraceAnne A. DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


The Horn Book
"The luminous illustrations evoke a magical aura."


School Library Joumal
"This dazzling picture book is an artistic triumph."

ANNOTATION

Reluctuant Nicky spends a wonderful summer with Grandma who introduces him to the joy of rafting down the river near her home and watching the animals along the banks.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A flock of birds was moving toward me along the river, hovering over something floating on the water. It drifted downstream, closer and closer, until finally it bumped up against the dock. Though it was covered with leaves and branches, now I could tell that it was a raft. I reached down and pushed some of the leaves aside. Beneath them was a drawing of a rabbit. It looked like those ancient cave paintings I'd seen in books—just outlines, but wild and fast and free.

Nicky isn't one bit happy about spending the summer with his grandma in the Wisconsin woods, but them the raft appears and changes everything. As Nicky explores, the raft works a subtle magic, opening up the wonders all around him—the animals of river and woods, his grandmother's humor and wisdom, and his own special talent as an artist.

FROM THE CRITICS

Horn Book

The luminous illustrations evoke a magical aura.

Publishers Weekly

Nicky's summer vacation in the Wisconsin woods fills up with quiet adventures when he discovers a raft covered with drawings of wild animals. PW's starred review praised the "exquisitely rendered" pastel drawings that "bathe the images in the bewitching glow of a riverfront dawn and dusk." Ages 6-up. (June) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature - Childrens Literature

Nicky is far from enthusiastic about being dropped off in the north woods to spend the summer with his grandmother. But grandma is an artist and free thinker. She gives the quiet boy lots of space and maybe even a very special gift. When an old raft bumps up next to Nicky along the river one day, he begins to explore its possibilities. Along the way, he finds a love for the river, for nature and art, and for his grandmother, too. All summers should pass this way. LaMarche's story and lovely pictures are based on his own childhood experiences. He tells and illustrates his tale gently and with much affection. This is a keeper. 2000, HarperCollins, Ages 4 to 7, $15.95. Reviewer: Kathleen Karr

School Library Journal

Gr 3-5-This dazzling picture book is an artistic triumph. LaMarche introduces young readers to a visually resplendent, magical world that is nevertheless so real they can almost touch it. Nicky, a sweet, sullen little boy from a middle-class urban household, feels hurt and abandoned when his father deposits him at his grandmother's home in the woods for the summer. "Dust rose up behind our car as it disappeared into the pines," Nicky mourns to himself in the story's opening paragraphs, looking for all the world like a puppy put out in the middle of nowhere. After finding a decorated raft adrift in the nearby river, the child and his artist grandmother pass sun-drenched days floating on it. He credits the raft with helping him befriend a growing menagerie of preternaturally tame woodland creatures, all of which he incorporates into a burgeoning passion for drawing and painting of his own. Nicky's descriptive first-person narration supports the radiant, expressive illustrations that are the book's greatest strength; his eyes and face communicate an array of instantly recognizable childhood feelings. LaMarche imbues the beauty and wonder of nature with an otherworldly glow that leaves the river and woods gilt and gleaming, even after nightfall. Readers who see this enchanted forest through Nicky's eyes will almost certainly recognize it again for themselves in summers to come.-Catherine T. Quattlebaum, Bartram Trail Regional Library System, Washington, GA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Kirkus Reviews

LaMarche (Little Oh, 1997) builds on childhood memories for this magical tale of artistic awakening. Young Nicky's resentment at having to spend all summer out in the country with Grandma changes to wonder when he finds a raft on the nearby river—a raft that is not only decorated with mysterious animal portraits, but seems, somehow, to attract wildlife. The author depicts his spectacled youngster floating through soft focus but exquisitely realistic natural scenes, sometimes alone, sometimes with Grandma, accompanied by flights of accurately rendered songbirds and other forest or river creatures seemingly as curious about—and as unafraid of him as he of them. At summer's end, he paints a picture of his own on the raft, after rescuing a fawn trapped on a muddy bank, and admits that he's become, like Grandma, a "river rat." The text's dreamy pace reflects both the river's gently rippling serenity and Nicky's deepening appreciation for the natural marvels he witnesses. It's an eyefilling, and soulfilling, idyll. (Picture book. 911)