What Is a River?
WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY MONIKA VAICENAVIČIENĖ • ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN SWEDISH BY OPAL 2019
Rivers have many powers: they carry sediments and sentiments, revive lands and minds, connect places and times. They are sources of life and of conflict; paths of stories travelling the Earth. Their flow continually reminds us – we all live downstream, or upstream, from someone, we are all neighbours.
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“What Is a River?” is a picture book is about rivers and the plentiful connections they have with us, humans. It follows a child and her grandma as they look for answers to a question – what is a river? In their imaginary expedition, they discover rivers flowing in the sky and living organisms; meet pilgrims and conquistadores, magical shape-shifting river dolphins and older-than-dinosaurs species of sturgeons; fish and bathe; and explore many other things.
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Drawing on geographical, historical, mythological references, and personal observations, the book brings together both factually accurate and poetic storytelling to create a story of interconnectedness and wonder.
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AWARDS & HONORS
Nominated - Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis 2023
Zilveren Penseel 2022
Washington Post Best Children’s Book of 2021
IBBY Honor List 2021
Nominated - Children's Book of The Year in Lithuania 2020
Premio Andersen - Miglior libro di divulgazione 2020
International Work Award - The Dapeng Nature Children's Book Award 2020
Nominated - Prix Sorcières - Carrément Sorcières, Non fiction 2020
The Best Non-fiction Book of the Year 2019 - The Awards of the Lithuanian Section of IBBY 2020
The Most Beautiful Book of the Year 2019 - The Awards of the Lithuanian Section of IBBY 2020
Merit - 3x3 Professional Show No.16 2019
Overall & Children's Book Category New Talent Winner - World Illustration Awards 2018
Publisher's Choice Award - Shanghai International Children's Book Fair 2018
Illustrators' Exhibition of Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2018
Ilustrarte Children's Book Illustration Biennial 2018
100 Outstanding Picturebooks - dPICTUS - 2018, 2019 & 2020
EDITIONS
What Is a River? by Enchanted Lion Books (English)
Vad är en flod? by Opal (Swedish)
Qu’est-ce qu’un fleuve? by Éditions Cambourakis (French)
Che cos'è un fiume? by Topipittori (Italian)
َ م ُ ا ه ُ و النَّ هر ؟ / Ma huqa an-nahruَ by Dar Al-Muna (Arabic)
¿Qué es un río? by Editorial Océano (Spanish)
강아, 너는 누구야? by Great Books (Korean)
Что такое река? by Samokat (Russian)
河流 by Taiwan Mac Educational (Traditional Chinese)
Kas yra upė? by Tikra knyga (Lithuanian)
Nehir Nedir? by Final Kültür Sanat Yayınları (Turkish)
河流是什么?by Beijing Cheerful Century Books (Simplified Chinese)
Muxuu yahay webigu? by Somabooks (Somalian)
Wat is een rivier ? by Davidsfonds/Infodok (Dutch)
Kas ir upe? by Janis Roze Publishers (Latvian)
Was ist ein Fluss? by Knesebeck Verlag (German)
O QUE É UM RIO? by WMF MARTINS FONTES (Portuguese)
Co je to řeka? by Labyrint (Czech)
"A book that can create a bedtime reverie and be used for nature study is a lovely find… richly multifaceted title that school and public librarians will do well to booktalk."
- BOOKLIST, STARRED REVIEW
"Pencil and mixed-media vignettes have a childlike feel that is elaborated in intricate detail. Readers come away with a sense of the wealth and strength of rivers through Vaicenavičienė’s story, which twists and wanders like a river itself."
- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"A broad and holistic approach that seamlessly weaves together geographical, sociological, historical, scientific, religious, industrial, and environmental information, concepts, and observations…A beautiful, thoughtful, and thought-provoking book."
- KIRKUS, STARRED REVIEW
"Lyrical reflection on the ceaseless flow of existence, linking the Ancient Greek myth of Oceanus — the great river encircling the Earth, from which the word ocean derives — with the ecological reality of Earth’s immense, interconnected, ancient system of water."