A River's Gifts: the Mighty Elwha River Reborn by Patricia Newman. Illustrated by Natasha Donovan. 48p. Millbrook Press/ Lerner Publishing Group, September 6, 2022. 9781541598706. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)
Fact Friday features A River's Gifts: the Mighty Elwha River Reborn by Patricia Newman. Thousands of years ago, glaciers carved canyons and valleys in Washington State. Over time, water flowed north from the mountains to the sea. Salmon made their way up its churning waters to spawn and die. The river was given a name, the Elwha, by the Strong People, also known as the Lower Elsha Klallam Tribe. While the tribe relied on the salmon for food, they only trapped what was needed and the life cycle of the salmon were undisturbed for thousands of years.
That symbiosis was disturbed in the late 1700s when white settlers arrived with the attitude that the wilderness was a place to be tamed. They drove out the Strong People, cut down the trees and eventually built two dams, which effectively blocked the salmon population from spawning due to the destruction of its habitat and warming of the water. River banks eroded, wildlife that depended on salmon for food left the area. Once the dams outlived their usefulness, they were no longer used to generate electricity, but they still blocked the river. The Strong People who remained in the area began to campaign for the dismantling of the dams, hoping to restore the salmon.
Ms. Newman is one of my favorite authors of informational literature. She has a knack for explaining complicated concepts lucidly while keeping things lively and engaging. The spare text is lyrical, subtly underscoring the magnitude of the destruction of this vital ecosystem and its long road to recovery. Side bars provide extra information such as how salmon feed a river or what the inside of a dam looks like. Back matter includes notes from both the author and illustrator and from a tribal member of the Strong People; a timeline; before and after photos; sources and recommendations for further reading. The end pages feature before and after topographical maps. Finally, the cartoonish illustrations are really beautiful featuring earth-tones with heavy black outlining and pops of color.
A River's Gifts is truly a picture book for all ages - informative and inspirational, appropriate for use from STEM classes to social studies.
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