Customer Reviews

River Beds: Sleeping in the World's Rivers

5 star:		(4)
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This is a beautiful book with eloquent language by Gail Langer Karwoski and elegant art by Connie McLennan. A bedtime story that transports the reader around the world, visiting famous rivers and the creatures that live in and around them. The illustrations and the text mesh seamlessly making RIVER BEDS: SLEEPING IN THE WORLD'S RIVERS a perfect picture book. The soothing language and twilight palette are perfect for a bedtime journey.
The activities and information at the end of the story will allow parents and teachers to expand the book with interactive projects.
WATER BEDS, a companion book by the same duo, shows us how mammals sleep in the ocean. The two books, together, form a perfect lesson for young children who want to know how these animals live. Both RIVER BEDS and WATER BEDS belong in media centers, public libraries, classrooms, and private collections. Children will want to revisit the stories over and over again discovering more details and relishing the beauty of these books.

Reviewed by: Gayle Jacobson-Huset

Author Gail Karwoski and Illustrator Connie McLennan did a terrific job on this gentle and interesting picture book about nine rivers around the world and the sleeping habits of the animals living by each river. It was a great learning lesson for me - I found out the names of animals I'd never heard of before! This book was written to lull little ones to sleep, but it also serves as a wonderful geography lesson for older children and adults as well. The only continent not represented in this book was Antarctica. Can you guess what nine rivers the author picked? You'll just have to read this book to find out!

As with all Sylvan Dell books, there is a section at the end of the book and also online called For Creative Minds. It contains "Adaptation Matching Activity" (which has all the animals mentioned in the story) as well as a section entitled "River Map Activity" that I found fascinating and fun. This is a great all-around quality Sylvan Dell book that rates a high five from me for its ability to hold my interest from beginning to end.

Gail Karwoski, a children's book author based in Watkinsville, Georgia, offers another bedtime classic in her new book, River Beds: Sleeping in the World's Rivers, illustrated by Connie McLennan and published by Sylvan Dell Publishing. Karwoski's new book is a sequel to the award-winning Water Beds: Sleeping in the Ocean, which was Learning Magazine's 2007 Teachers' Choice Award winner and also was a 2005 Mom's Choice winner. Karwoski, who remembers being lulled to sleep as a child by bedtime stories, speaks in the perfect voice for this type of story. Reading this book, it is easy even for an adult "kid" to feel drowsy. But there's more to this story than a simple bedtime tale. The author takes readers on an around-the-world boat trip as she tells them about the sleeping habits of mammals who live in or around ten major rivers of the world on all continents except Antarctica. Young readers will learn about otters sleeping inside a hollow tree by the Mississippi River, beaver near the St. Lawrence River and Pink river dolphins called botos in the Amazon River. And then there's my favorite, capybara, the world's biggest rodent, who lives near the Amazon River and clicks its big teeth with contentment as it settles down to sleep. Other animals in this book include a vole along the banks of the Thames River, a mink by the Danube River, river dolphins below the swift, muddy water of the Indus River, Asian short-clawed otters near the mouth of the Mekong River, a herd of hippos bouncing along the Nile River and a wet platypus in a hole in the bank of the Brisbane River. Karwoski tells about these sleeping animals in lyrical language and McLennan illustrates these wet sleeping places and sleepy animals in dreamy, gorgeous colors on every page. Fans of Water Beds: Sleeping in the Ocean will be delighted with this follow up bedtime story. Readers who are new to Karwoski's bedtime storybooks will want to read both.

Grab your imagination, a coat and a paddle and travel to the ten major rivers of the world in River Beds! Youngsters will delight as they learn about the restful sleeping habits of the mammals native to these ten rivers. Children will enjoy an imaginary boat ride down each river as they discover how different animals get ready for bedtime. Stunning and realistic pictures by illustrator, Connie McLennan, engage readers with extraordinary details of what different mammals look like in their peaceful and private habitats. Author, Gail Langer Karwoski has magically transformed science and research information into soothing storybook text that glides across each page. River Beds is a restful and peaceful adventure that will leave audiences searching for their favorite sleeping den. Educational activities compliment this storybook with a "For Creative Minds" section and "River Map Activity" for geography lessons. Children and adults will enjoy honing their map reading skills when they are asked to locate mammals and rivers on the colorful maps included. Readers will burrow under their covers with River Beds as they curl up on soft pillows to enjoy this creative and educational storybook.

Sara Hassler
Reviewer