I Talk Like a River

by Jordan Scott

Other authorsSydney Smith (Illustrator)
Hardcover, 2020

Status

Available

Publication

Neal Porter Books (2020), Edition: Illustrated, 40 pages

Description

When a child has a "bad speech day" at school, his father gives him a new perspective on his stuttering.

User reviews

LibraryThing member Whisper1
A young boy awakes each day knowing he will not be able to talk clearly. All his words get stuck in the back of his mouth. This disability leaves him scared and humiliated as each school day he cannot speak clearly and feels follish and made fun of. He mumbles, his words tangle on his tongue,
Show More
letters that begin a word get stuck in the back of his throat.

He envisions how his classmates see him with his face that looks strange as he twists his mouth to try to force the words to come out clearly. And, sadly all the words he needs to say do not come out clearly, and it is just another day when his speach is mumbled.

His loving father picks him up from school and lovingly tells him that his bad speech day simply means they should go somewhere quiet to relax and unwind. His father takes him to the river. But, the boy cannot help but ruminate how he thinks he sounded and looked to his classmates. His eyes fill with tears.

Lovingly his father points to the way the water moves over the rocks, and tells his son that his words are very much like the river that bubbles, churns, whirls and crashes.

The boy hopes he can remember that he talks like a river. As he enters the water he thinks again how calm the river is after the stones are twisted and turned. And, hopefully, if he remembers that after the busy twisting and turning, there is calm, even after the river stuttered.

The next day during school the boy told the class about his favorite place and how he talks like the river.

The book is based on real life experiences of the author Jordan Scott whose father lovingly helped him through the bad speech days.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bookwren
A loving, lyrical tribute to a father who empowered his son to be proud to talk like a river. When I ordered this book, I thought it would be about children in nature. And it is, but it's so much more. Jordan Scott relates his own childhood in poetic metaphors relating emotions and the natural
Show More
world. Sydney Smith mirrors the words with lush illustrations that eloquently show the boy's emotions: blurred watercolors when he's upset illuminating to clear understanding as his father's perfect words bring peace and self-acceptance. The centerfold spread is stunning. A book for everybody - children, tweens, teens, adults - to share and savor.
Show Less
LibraryThing member collinshapiro
this poetically written picture book outlines what it is like for the young boy with a stutter to not be able to form word-sounds. It is filled with nature metaphors, which allow readers to empathize with the boy. It concludes will personification of the river's movement and analogizes it to the
Show More
way he speaks: paralleling its turbulence with its calm. I am in awe.
Show Less

Awards

Language

Original language

English

Physical description

40 p.; 10.28 inches

ISBN

0823445593 / 9780823445592
Page: 0.8715 seconds