Michael J. Caduto, illustrated by Olga Pastuchiv,
Riparia’s River
Tilbury House, 2011.

Ages 8+

Riparia’s River is author and ecologist Michael Caduto’s story of a community coming together to bring the river they love back to its natural, clean state.

Upon finding their favorite swimming hole full of slimy, smelly stuff one summer day, a group of young friends decide to follow the riverbank upstream to find out why. From a woman named Riparia, whom they find “surrounded by the arching branches of ancient trees”, they learn about the ways in which a nearby farm has been unintentionally affecting the river’s health, and come up with a plan to set things right.

Riparia gives the river voice by showing the kids how it responds to the process of human and natural disturbance. That she quietly and mysteriously disappears after showing them may leave some readers wondering… Who was she, really? If a river could talk, it is likely it would sound like Riparia.

Many of the solutions currently offered to our environmental challenges seem to rely upon a faith in the power of education, community and the human spirit, and that is precisely the message Riparia’s River conveys so well. Out of concern for their river, a group of children inspires a community to come together to restore and protect the body of water they all rely on and benefit from. Together they move the farm’s fence and transplant “wildflowers, shrubs and trees between the river and the new fence-line”to create a buffer zone.

Pastuchiv’s soft, fuzzy watercolors feature undefined characters that serve the text well. By making the children look vaguely generic (albeit clearly multicultural in their complexions), the illustrations reinforce the idea that they represent all children; that their river could be our river; their efforts, ours.

As more and more people these days learn about the importance of living in harmony with nature, this book provides a timely opportunity for parents and educators to talk to children about the role humans play in the creation of environmental imbalances—in particular those related to river habitats and their ecosystem—and how we can all be a part of the solution.

At story’s end, the children head out to the now clean swimming hole, and readers are presented with “The Fauna of Riparia’s River”, a list of birds, animals, reptiles and insects that appear throughout the book, as well as an invitation to find them all.

Aline Pereira
February 2012

PaperTigers: Your life has been a tapestry of living in many cultures—in France, Spain, England, the United States, Nigeria, India. How has this helped you as a writer?

Katia: This is an interesting question. How does life in general help and/or affect us as writers? I would say every experience shapes us, and what we are shows up inevitably in what we write. I could not have written Amadi’s story if I had not lived in Nigeria. On the other hand, it must be said that a life spent traveling or living in vastly different countries (even if I also find similarities from one to another) has made me slightly jaded. I’m so used to witnessing diverse ways of living, eating, dressing, even driving a car on the road (!) that it takes more and more to surprise me. I notice that particularly when we have guests. Some of the things that amaze them, I have come to view as part of my daily routine or panorama.

PaperTigers: It’s been said that writing a picture book is as demanding as writing a poem. Each word must be precise, the use of language must be economical, and the images evocative. Longer forms of fiction can be more forgiving. Why did you choose this difficult form for Amadi’s story? And would you choose it again?

Katia:I love the picture book format. I love the conversation between the art and the words on the page, how they are meant to complement each other. I think that writers who are also artists are very lucky to be able to experience this medium in its full beauty, and difficulty. Amadi came to me that way : it was a turning point in the life of a young boy, related to a particular instance, and something that needed to be resolved quickly. And yes, I have three other picture book manuscripts that I hope will find a home. Children love pictures. They love being able to suspend the flow of a story to examine an image, notice details, talk about the expression on the face of a character, the background, etc.

PaperTigers:As a mother of two girls, why did you decide to write about a boy? Is there a “real-life” Amadi? How did you manage to enter the heart and mind of a small “Igbo man of Nigeria” and give him such complete life on the page?

Katia:There is no “real-life” Amadi, but there are lots of boys just like him. The problem of these boys dropping out of school to earn quick money in the street is very real. As for entering the heart and mind of Amadi, I think it’s the reverse. Amadi entered my own mind and started telling me his story. I just had to write it down. (more…)

Today PaperTigers is thrilled to be part of Katia Novet Saint-Lot’s virtual book tour for her wonderful book, Amadi’s Snowman (Tilbury House). From her home in Hyderabad, India, Katia is spending this month visiting blogs around the world in interviews and photos, discussing her life as a writer and global nomad, and providing photos and drawings from children who have fallen in love with her irrepressible and insatiably curious creation, Amadi.

The drawings that preface our interview with Katia come from students in two fourth grade classes at the Vidyaranya School in Hyderabad, with whom Katia recently spent time reading and discussing her book.

These are children fluent in English, with Hindi and Telugu taught as second languages, who were quite interested when Katia told them that Amadi and his classmates are English speakers as well.

And as their delightful drawings plainly reveal, they became immersed in the Nigerian world of the small Igbo businessman and devoted reader in the making, Amadi!