River of Life - Hardcover

Debbie S. Miller is the author of several nature books for children. She has followed and explored many of Alaska's wild rivers and was inspired by the great diversity of life along these waterways, writing with the hope that readers might better understand, appreciate, and protect rivers near their own homes.
 

"Beginning and ending in winter, this elegant book traces the seasonal changes of an Alaskan river. The descriptive text, filled with peaceful imagery, reveals the life the river supports and its interconnectedness. A small boy observes the drama of wildlife—the moose knee-deep in the river, a kingfisher swooping for salmon, a red fox scavenging along the riverbank—against a backdrop of spruce, cottonwood, birch, and willows. He builds a snowman by the frozen river, pokes at ice floes in the spring, fly-fishes in the summer, tosses leaves in the fall. Van Zyle, who is the official artist of the Iditarod, brings all the activity to brilliant life in his realistic oil paintings. Not unlike Thomas Locker’s Where the River Begins (1984), this book reveals the vibrancy of the natural world. The useful glossary is worth reading for the curious facts it contains—male juncos sound like a jangling telephone, 32,000 brown bears live in Alaska, and more."

Booklist, ALA

"An ecology lesson made beautifully simple." Kirkus Reviews

"The art is quite eye-catching and is nicely complemented by the poetic text." School Library Journal