A psychedelic adventure story of friendship, peril, gender questions, and foraging in two floating villages, perfect for 5-8 year olds — the latest fantasy world from beloved writer and illustrator Claude Ponti.
In two floating villages on the river Longo live a pair of boat-faring communities, sailing where their whim or the current takes them. The Oolongs are known for the delicious roots, fruits, and flowers they gather; the Kukichas pick healiherbs, and prepare powerful potions that help them feel their best. Both communities foster an atmosphere of openness and play in all aspects of life, including where gender is concerned. For Lu Cha (an Oolong boy) and Ali Roo (a Kukicha girl), it's only natural that gender can be chosen, tried out, and reconsidered as each child sees fit. All is well in this idyllic world until suddenly, from far beyond the shiverbanks and the boobam brambles, a mysterious beast comes to prowl.
Claude Ponti develops parallel utopian worlds where two communities, governed by values of kindness, openness, inventiveness, and the pursuit of beauty, end up realizing they need each other. In Claude Ponti’s wonderfully detailed illustrations and sparkling wordplay, skillfully translated by Margot Kerlidou and Alyson Waters, young readers will find a faraway world of pleasure, fright, and friendship.
"A new Ponti is always cause for celebration. [The River] is an incredible and inventive exploration of a natural world that dares to explore gender . . . Exhilarating."—Betsy Bird, School Library Journal's Fuse 8 Blog
"Wholly unique . . . The pages brim with imaginative flora and fauna, as well as rich details of two accepting cultures." —Danielle Ballantyne, Foreword Reviews
"Ponti has again contrived the most gorgeous fantastical creatures and landscapes . . . reassuring in its emphasis on community connection, solidarity with the vulnerable, and courage in the face of adversity." —Glass of Wine, Glass of Milk
"Although a fantastical and amusing tale, Ponti addresses realistic and timely issues in The River that could lead to interesting and thoughtful intergenerational conversations . . . As is his expertise, Ponti invents yet another playful and meaningful narrative, aurally and visually." —Michelle Nott
Claude Ponti is a French illustrator and children’s author known for his inventive and playful use of words and the symbolic nature of his illustrations. His first book, L’Album d’Adèle, written for his newborn daughter, displays the associative and dream-like presentation of children’s interior lives that characterizes many of his works. Ponti was awarded the 2006 Sorcières Spécial prize for his contribution to literature, which now includes over seventy books of all types and for all ages. Elsewhere Editions has published four celebrated picture books by Ponti: My Valley, Hiznobyuti, Blaze and the Castle Cake for Bertha Daye, and Meeselphe.
Margot Kerlidou is a photographer, French tutor, and herbalist. Claude Ponti was her favorite author when she was a child.
Alyson Waters is a translator of modern and contemporary literary fiction, criticism and theory, as well as art history. She teaches literary translation workshops at Yale University, New York University, and Columbia.
A psychedelic adventure story of friendship, peril, gender questions, and foraging in two floating villages, perfect for 5-8 year olds — the latest fantasy world from beloved writer and illustrator Claude Ponti.
In two floating villages on the river Longo live a pair of boat-faring communities, sailing where their whim or the current takes them. The Oolongs are known for the delicious roots, fruits, and flowers they gather; the Kukichas pick healiherbs, and prepare powerful potions that help them feel their best. Both communities foster an atmosphere of openness and play in all aspects of life, including where gender is concerned. For Lu Cha (an Oolong boy) and Ali Roo (a Kukicha girl), it's only natural that gender can be chosen, tried out, and reconsidered as each child sees fit. All is well in this idyllic world until suddenly, from far beyond the shiverbanks and the boobam brambles, a mysterious beast comes to prowl.
Claude Ponti develops parallel utopian worlds where two communities, governed by values of kindness, openness, inventiveness, and the pursuit of beauty, end up realizing they need each other. In Claude Ponti’s wonderfully detailed illustrations and sparkling wordplay, skillfully translated by Margot Kerlidou and Alyson Waters, young readers will find a faraway world of pleasure, fright, and friendship.
Praise
"A new Ponti is always cause for celebration. [The River] is an incredible and inventive exploration of a natural world that dares to explore gender . . . Exhilarating."—Betsy Bird, School Library Journal's Fuse 8 Blog
"Wholly unique . . . The pages brim with imaginative flora and fauna, as well as rich details of two accepting cultures." —Danielle Ballantyne, Foreword Reviews
"Ponti has again contrived the most gorgeous fantastical creatures and landscapes . . . reassuring in its emphasis on community connection, solidarity with the vulnerable, and courage in the face of adversity." —Glass of Wine, Glass of Milk
"Although a fantastical and amusing tale, Ponti addresses realistic and timely issues in The River that could lead to interesting and thoughtful intergenerational conversations . . . As is his expertise, Ponti invents yet another playful and meaningful narrative, aurally and visually." —Michelle Nott
Author
Claude Ponti is a French illustrator and children’s author known for his inventive and playful use of words and the symbolic nature of his illustrations. His first book, L’Album d’Adèle, written for his newborn daughter, displays the associative and dream-like presentation of children’s interior lives that characterizes many of his works. Ponti was awarded the 2006 Sorcières Spécial prize for his contribution to literature, which now includes over seventy books of all types and for all ages. Elsewhere Editions has published four celebrated picture books by Ponti: My Valley, Hiznobyuti, Blaze and the Castle Cake for Bertha Daye, and Meeselphe.
Margot Kerlidou is a photographer, French tutor, and herbalist. Claude Ponti was her favorite author when she was a child.
Alyson Waters is a translator of modern and contemporary literary fiction, criticism and theory, as well as art history. She teaches literary translation workshops at Yale University, New York University, and Columbia.
