Today I am a reader. And I did not need to use my imagination for that. However, if I was one of the characters in the story Today I Am a River I would need to use that imagination as I would need to decide what I wanted to be: a river, tree, owl or even a leaf. Each item in Kate Coombs picture book is a poem relating all the wonderful things that item is. We see how things float, fly and even the ideals of what we are viewing. This is a book with lovely poems that are poetic and give a little science and nature, too. Though more about the imagination of the reader and/or narrator, the combination of fact and fiction is fun.
The great illustrations of Anna Laitinen are very colorful and great details without being overwhelming or too busy. This is a book where you can judge the art by the cover. Things are both old school, classically feeling, but also have a modern tone to them as well. Things are not “filled out” but there are no gaps in what you are looking at. They support the poems, adding to them, but never really taking away, only enhancing the text.
Though read as an online reader copy, this book is currently available. It could be a great book for your own personal library, school library or the classroom. You can be studying poetry, science, or even if you are doing a reading or writing class. It can be adapted to multiple needs and ages. You could even use it as a way to have children move about in a preschool/toddler “gym class” setting. 