Having said that history would be our focus this term, the children and I have decided that we would like to learn about rivers and in particular, The Amazon River.
The fascination with rivers comes from reading extracts of Lightning Falls that links the river to magic. The descriptions are so beautiful that we wanted to learn more about waterways and their links to myths, legends and magic.
Our focus on The Amazon comes from reading How To Be Brave where one of the characters gets kidnapped and lost in The Amazon and from Katherine Rundell’s The Explorer and Eva Ibbotson’s Journey To The River Sea.
I love the way our fiction reading inspires our non fiction picks and guides our learning.
Today I am matching two magnificent river books. The two books are very different but equally stunning.
Amazing Rivers from What On Earth Books I will review in full tomorrow. The book features some of the world’s most extraordinary rivers. The pages are filled with incredible wildlife, astounding natural wonders, awesome river traditions. I cannot wait to share with you this fact filled celebration of some of the most remarkable rivers on Earth.
Today though I want to tell you about the breathtakingly beautiful Amazon River from Flying Eye Books. Written by Sangma Francis and illustrated by Romolo D’Hipolito.
This is a visually stunning book. The colours are just gorgeous. The endpapers are amazing! Every page is filled with striking illustrations. I absolutely love the art of this book. It makes me want to leaf through the pages over and over again savouring every detail.
However, while the artwork is WOW! It was the writing that I fell in love with.
“This is a story that has a tiny beginning and a mighty end! The Amazon River is a place where pink dolphins swim, manatees have been mistaken for mermaids, where fish eat flesh and meadows float.”
I was hooked from the start and the rest of the book did not disappoint.
I have learned so much from this book about the geographical features of the river, about the water cycle, about different bodies of water.
I have learned about flooded forests and river islands, I have discovered that there is a coral reef in the river!
I have explored the riverside ecosystem and met a paradixocal frog. You have to read this book!
I loved learning about the aquatic mammals of The Amazon. Pink river dolphins and Amazonian Manatee!
The people of the rainforest have always fascinated me. I would love to see the Rego Grande and explore a hidden Inca city.
I was amazed to learn about the boats that travel up and down The Amazon today and was sad to read about The Amazon in danger.
The book ends with a call to action, written as eloquently as the opening words that hooked me into this awe inspiring river exploration. I think that they will move you too.
“Ask yourself: is the natural world a wondrous thing to you? Is it worth protecting? Is extinction acceptable? Is there a better way for us all to live together? They may seem like big questions and you may think you are too small. But if a drop of water can glide along a great river, then think of all the things that you could do.”
We were sent copies of the books in exchange for our honest review