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  • I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott book cover
  • I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott book cover
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I Talk Like a River

by Jordan Scott

Finding a way to speak

$11.53 USD
$19.22 USD $11.53 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Award recognition

    Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner

    The book is identified as a winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award.

  • Editorial selection

    Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

    Identified as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.

AlbakiReads Editorial

Finding a way to speak

A boy who stutters struggles to make himself understood and feels alone. A walk beside the river with his father offers a new perspective on his speech and his connection to the world around him. Based on Jordan Scott’s own experience, the picture book brings together a child’s experience of stuttering, family support, and the search for a way to communicate. The river setting is central to the story’s shift in perspective, giving the book a concrete image for a challenge that can be hard to explain.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Children ages 4–8 encountering stories about stuttering or communication differences
  • Families and caregivers seeking a picture book about supporting a child who feels isolated
  • Readers interested in stories based on an author’s own experience

Themes

Stuttering and communicationFeeling isolatedFamily supportChanging perspective

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

What if words got stuck in the back of your mouth whenever you tried to speak? What if they never came out the way you wanted them to?

Sometimes it takes a change of perspective to get the words flowing.

Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Winner
A New York Times Best Children's Book of the Year

I wake up each morning with the sounds of words all around me.

And I can't say them all . . .

When a boy who stutters feels isolated, alone, and incapable of communicating in the way he'd like, it takes a kindly father and a walk by the river to help him find his voice. Compassionate parents everywhere will instantly recognize a father's ability to reconnect a child with the world around him.

Poet Jordan Scott writes movingly in this powerful and ultimately uplifting book, based on his own experience, and masterfully illustrated by Sydney Smith, winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international distinction given to author and illustrators of children's books. Now in paperback, I Talk Like a River is a book for any child who feels lost, lonely, or unable to fit in.

Finalist for the BC and Yukon Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize
A Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book
An American Library Association Notable Children's Book
ILA Primary Fiction Honoree
Named a Best Book of the Year by The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, NPR, Kirkus Reviews, Shelf Awareness, Bookpage, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Publishers Lunch, and more!
A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
A Bank Street Best Childrens Book of the Year!
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
A CBC Best Picture Book of the Year
A Kids' Book Choice Award Finalist
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