In this resonant story, Cam the mountain boy follows the river from its trickling source in the mountain snow all the way to the coast. The river leads him through forest, farms, and towns to the salty wind of the sea. Dramatic landscape illustrations evoke a North American landscape and are packed with detail to explore the world of the river.

Prizes

Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year

"With graceful, rhyming poetry Cowley articulates the connectedness of nature, while Andrews renders the rush and earnestness of the boy's journey through striated light, city smoke, and the broad, blue sea."—Publishers Weekly

". . . [A] beautiful picture book. . . .The descriptive language draws readers in and envelops them in the story."—School Library Journal

"A lovely homage to nature."—Kirkus Reviews

Joy Cowley is one of New Zealand's best-loved writers for children and adults, with an international reputation. She has won a multitude of awards and honours for her bestselling books, including the Prime Ministers Award for contribution to literature. She was shortlisted for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2018. Kimberly Andrews is a trained biologist and geologist who grew up in the Canadian Rockies and has lived and worked in Borneo, the UK and New Zealand. She illustrated Explore Aotearoa, shortlisted for the New Zealand children's book award in 2018, and her first book both authored and illustrated, Puffin the Architect, was released in 2018. She lives in Wellington.