River Parade (Picture Puffins) - Softcover

PreSchool-Grade 2-- To open this book is to plunge into limpid watercolors that fairly swim on the page, and to touch, through clear depths, a child's experience. On a hot day a boy, age five or six, goes on a boat ride with his father. They take along a large picnic basket and three wooden toys. A red and black spotted dog, a red and white duck, and a chunky giraffe are lined up on the gunwale as Dad rows down the gloriously shimmering river. One by one they fall/jump/are knocked into the water, but that's okay: Dad ties each to a long string, and they bob along in the parade of the title. Finally the young narrator (wearing a life vest) finds himself in the river, too. "It was cold and nice . . . It's wonderful to swim in the river, as long as you're on a string." Resonant as that sentiment is (and it's nice to find a father on the other end of the umbilical cord), understatement beautifully complements the heady, evocative illustrations. They glisten with heat, light, and movement, describing river, sky, air, people, and objects in rich strokes of aqueous color. Around one simple incident this book conjures up an ideal vision of a place, and a profound glimpse at the relationship between love and freedom, holding on and letting go. --Patricia Dooley, University of Washington, Seattle
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The creator of everybody's favorite rottweiler presents a refreshing river outing, as a boy, his toys and his dad take to the water. Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.