Ages 4 to 8, Grades P to 3
What if words got stuck in the back of your mouth whenever you tried to speak? What if they never came out the way you wanted them to? Sometimes it takes a change of perspective to get the words flowing.
I wake up each morning with the sounds of words all around me.
And I can’t say them all…
When a boy who stutters feels isolated, alone, and incapable of communicating in the way he’d like, it takes a kindly father and a walk by the river to help him find his voice. Compassionate parents everywhere will instantly recognize a father’s ability to reconnect a child with the world around him.
Poet Jordan Scott writes movingly in this powerful and ultimately uplifting book, based on his own experience, and masterfully illustrated by Greenaway Medalist Sydney Smith. A book for any child who feels lost, lonely, or unable to fit in.
A Junior Library Guild Selection
About the Author
Jordan Scott is a poet whose work includes Silt, Blert, DECOMP, and Night & Ox. Blert, which explores the poetics of stuttering, is the subject of two National Film Board of Canada projects, Flub and Utter: a poetic memoir of the mouth and STUTTER. Scott was the recipient of the 2018 Latner Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize for his contributions to Canadian poetry. I Talk Like a River is Scott’s first book for children. He lives in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island with his wife and two sons.
Sydney Smith is an illustrator of picture books whose work includes Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson; The White Cat and the Monk by Jo Ellen Bogart; and Town Is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz, which was awarded the 2018 Kate Greenaway Medal and the 2018 Children’s Literature Award. He both wrote and illustrated Small in the City, which Kirkus Reviews called “Extraordinary, emotional, and beautifully rendered.” in a starred review. School Library Journal said “The use of line, reflection, and perspective masterfully evoke a bustling gray city.” in another starred review. Travis Jonker of 100 Scope Notes, a School Library Journal blog, said “Small in the City is one of my favorite books of 2019.” His accolades include a Governor General’s Award for Illustrated Children’s Books and three successive New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year citations.
Author Residence: Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
Sydney Smith is an illustrator of picture books whose work includes Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson; The White Cat and the Monk by Jo Ellen Bogart; and Town Is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz, which was awarded the 2018 Kate Greenaway Medal and the 2018 Children's Literature Award. He both wrote and illustrated Small in the City, which Kirkus Reviews called "Extraordinary, emotional, and beautifully rendered." in a starred review. School Library Journal said "The use of line, reflection, and perspective masterfully evoke a bustling gray city." in another starred review. Travis Jonker of 100 Scope Notes, a School Library Journal blog, said "Small in the City is one of my favorite books of 2019." His accolades include a Governor General's Award for Illustrated Children's Books and three successive New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year citations.
Illustrator Residence: Halifax, Novia Scotia, Canada
