The Raft: A Heartwarming Picture Book About Nature and Art for Children (Ages 4-8)

The Raft: A Heartwarming Picture Book About Nature and Art for Children (Ages 4-8)

This gorgeous picture book celebrates the wonders of summer adventures, imagination, and the natural world. Nicky is convinced that his summer with his grandmother in the Wisconsin woods is going to be the worst summer ever. She cooks food that he doesn’t like, there’s an art studio where her living room should be, and he’s expected to do chores—including fishing, the most boring chore ever. But one afternoon, while Nicky is trying to catch their dinner, a raft drifts down the river towards him. The raft has a calming magic about it, affecting both Nicky and the wildlife of the river and woods. Through the raft and the adventures it brings him on, Nicky finds new common ground with his grandmother, a fellow river rat, who encourages him to explore his newfound talent for art. This is an imagination-sparking story about appreciating the simple, natural joys of the world and the people in it, and about discovering and exploring one’s own talents. School Library Journal proclaimed, “This dazzling picture book is an artistic triumph.” The author’s note describes the similarities between Jim LaMarche's own life and the life of his protagonist. 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 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. 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