The Raft
by Jim LaMarche (Author) Jim LaMarche (Illustrator)
Inspired in part by his own childhood, this gorgeous picture book from Jim LaMarche, the beloved illustrator of A Story for Bear and The Elves and the Shoemaker, tells the story of one stubborn boy's unexpectedly wonderful summer on the river.This is an imagination-sparking story about appreciating the simple, natural joys of the world and the people in it, and about discovering and exploring one's own talents.
School Library Journal proclaimed, "This dazzling picture book is an artistic triumph."
The author's note describes the similarities between his own life and the life of his protagonist.
Nicky is convinced that his summer with his grandmother in the Wisconsin woods is going to be the worst summer ever. She cooks food that he doesn't like, there's an art studio where her living room should be, and he's expected to do chores--including fishing, the most boring chore ever.But one afternoon, while Nicky is trying to catch their dinner, a raft drifts down the river towards him. The raft has a calming magic about it, affecting both Nicky and the wildlife of the river and woods. Through the raft and the adventures it brings him on, Nicky finds new common ground with his grandmother, a fellow river rat, who encourages him to explore his newfound talent for art.
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Publishers Weekly
LaMarche (The Rainbabies) filters an evocative tale of a summertime idyll in the Wisconsin woods through a series of exquisitely rendered pastel drawings. Equally adept at portraiture, landscapes and closely observed nature studies, he uses light adroitly; here he bathes his images in the bewitching glow of a riverfront dawn and dusk. Sent to spend the summer with his grandmother, an artist and self-proclaimed "river rat" living in a remote cottage, young Nicky believes he's in for a tedious vacation. However, his days quickly fill up with quiet adventures when he discovers a raft covered with drawings of wild animals. His grandmother teaches him how to navigate the river, then sets him free to explore; he soon begins sketching all the animals he sees, from birds and turtles to foxes, raccoons, otters and the like. LaMarche neatly sidesteps sentimentality as he spins his story, subtly and realistically chronicling the growing bond between grandmother and grandson. It's the artwork, however, that is the star of this show. From details such as the graceful curve of a bird's wing or the soft, quick outline of a raccoon's furry coat to mood-setting landscapes of a line of birches just visible through an early-morning mist or the masterful blending of lavenders and grays with a touch of pale peach to evoke the onset of dawn, LaMarche gets it all just right. Ages 6-up. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
School Library Journal
Gr 3-5-This dazzling picture book is an artistic triumph. LaMarche introduces young readers to a visually resplendent, magical world that is nevertheless so real they can almost touch it. Nicky, a sweet, sullen little boy from a middle-class urban household, feels hurt and abandoned when his father deposits him at his grandmother's home in the woods for the summer. "Dust rose up behind our car as it disappeared into the pines," Nicky mourns to himself in the story's opening paragraphs, looking for all the world like a puppy put out in the middle of nowhere. After finding a decorated raft adrift in the nearby river, the child and his artist grandmother pass sun-drenched days floating on it. He credits the raft with helping him befriend a growing menagerie of preternaturally tame woodland creatures, all of which he incorporates into a burgeoning passion for drawing and painting of his own. Nicky's descriptive first-person narration supports the radiant, expressive illustrations that are the book's greatest strength; his eyes and face communicate an array of instantly recognizable childhood feelings. LaMarche imbues the beauty and wonder of nature with an otherworldly glow that leaves the river and woods gilt and gleaming, even after nightfall. Readers who see this enchanted forest through Nicky's eyes will almost certainly recognize it again for themselves in summers to come.-Catherine T. Quattlebaum, Bartram Trail Regional Library System, Washington, GA
Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Review quotes
JUV013030 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Multigenerational
JUV002000 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | General
Grandmothers
Rafting (Sports)
Rivers
