Just enough this side of vaporous to be effective as information is this evocation of the lengthening life of a river from a...

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THE RIVER

Just enough this side of vaporous to be effective as information is this evocation of the lengthening life of a river from a trickle to its jointure with the ocean. As in Mr. Ross' earlier tribute to a pine tree, the text is a prose poem, the illustrations pen drawings with a spare precision and strength suggestive of Japanese brushwork. What makes this more than a handsome mood piece for adult delectation is the drama of the detail--repeatedly the stream is stopped (by drought, by sink holes), each time it gathers strength (from a torrential rain, from an adjoining brook or an underground spring) and pushes forward; before the river reaches the ocean (and dispersion, evaporation), the reader is cheering it one. A satisfying book that could be read aloud, and should (maybe must) be introduced.

Pub Date: Sept. 29, 1967

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1967

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