two books about rivers

Three Days On A River In A Red Canoe

Many of Vera Williams books have as their base a positive  relationship between family members.  In this book two sisters, Aunt Rosie and Mom, and their two children, Sam - Rosie's son, and the narrator, Mom's daughter, go on a canoe trip.  The account of the canoe trip starts off with "I was the first one to notice the red canoe for sale in a yard on the way home from school.  My mom and my aunt Rosie and my cousin Sam and I put our money together  and bought it."  The story goes on with many details about getting ready for the trip as well as the trip itself.   Illustrated in diary form with detailed drawings of the trip, including recipes, supplies, and how to tie knots, the trip is one I would have loved to have taken with a child and as a child.   There is some adventure, everything isn't perfect, but what is perfect is the depiction of a real canoe trip complete with unexpected happenings.


   Abel's Island by William Steig 
Like many of William Steig's books, the vocabulary is delightful.  As I started reading the beginning of this book to remind myself of how it started, I was immediately caught up and remembered how much I enjoyed reading the story to my children.   Abel, a mouse, learns how to survive in the wild after a misadventure.  He tries to rescue his new wife's scarf and is instead blown into a river and then washed on to an island.  It takes him a while to realize that he must fend for himself until he can figure out how rescue himself and leave the island. 
128 pages long for 6 and up.