Amazing Rivers by Julie Agnone

This information-packed picture book introduces young middle-graders to the wide world of waterways.

Amazing Rivers: 100+ Waterways that Will Boggle Your Mind by Julie Vosburgh Agnone, Illustrated by Kerry Hyndman. What On Earth Books (UK), 2021, 55 pages plus index and bibliography.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10

Recommended for: ages 8-14

Rivers have always been essential to the growth of human civilizations—historically, no great city has been built without one. But not many children’s books are devoted exclusively to them. Amazing Rivers will introduce young readers to the cleanest, shortest, deepest, and (of course) longest. Though not all are necessarily mind-boggling, all are vital to life on earth and many have their own idiosyncrasies. Did you know, for example, the river colors can range from black to yellow? That rivers can be found even in the Arctic? That the Mississippi is not the longest river in the US? Four rivers receive two-page treatment: the Colorado, the Amazon, the Tigris & Euphrates, and the Li Jiang.

The book was published in the UK and uses British spelling and terminology, such as “lorries” for “trucks.” The colorful pictures should be enough to clear up any confusion. More troubling is the evolutionary slant and the left-leaning environmentalism—on page 54, the author reports approvingly that some nations have granted “legal person” recognition to rivers, and the authority given to government agencies to act on the waterways’ supposed behalf. That’s easy enough to ignore in the steady of flow of information and “did you know” amazing facts to learn.

Overall Rating: 3.75

• Worldview/moral value: 3.5
• Artistic/literary value: 4

Read more about our ratings here.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Reviews: What about oceans? See our reviews of Longitude and Two Years before the Mast, both selections from our 2020 Summer Reading Program, “Hope on the Horizon.”
• Reviews: Four fascinating books about “The Amazing Amazon.”

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