by Jordan Scott
illustrated by Sydney Smith
 
“The P in pine tree grows roots inside my mouth and tangles my tongue."
A child wakes each morning with sounds everywhere around him but unable to articulate all of them: “these word-sounds stuck in my mouth”. On “bad speech days”, he stays silent at home and at school, where his peers stare at him. On one of these days, his dad takes him to the wide river and soothes him, telling him he speaks like the river: “Even the river stutters, like I do”.  
 
An ‘older’ picture book which models a child learning to absorb and embrace their ‘difference’ as powerful, organic and natural. Encourages readers to think about communication, language, sounds and, of course, empathy. An innovative layout brings home this visual spectacle, blending graphic and traditional art, sometimes landing the pictures as blocks against a white background, sometimes stretching across double pages in three horizontal strips, sometimes bleeding more conventionally across whole or double page. Includes a double gatefold at the centre showing the boy immersing himself in a broad river rippling with light.  
 
A thoughtful afterword by the author describes his own experience of stuttering at school and how observing a river helped him to appreciate fluency quite differently. ‘Honestly- stunning! Beautiful poetic text with words so carefully chosen but not contrived. Gentle and sensitive’ (Jayne, Primary Inclusion Manager, Letterbox Library Reviewer ).  Age 6-10, Paperback 35pp.
£7.99
Themes: Disabilities