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The Raft Paperback – Picture Book, May 28, 2002
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This gorgeous picture book celebrates the wonders of summer adventures, imagination, and the natural world.
Nicky is convinced that his summer with his grandmother in the Wisconsin woods is going to be the worst summer ever. She cooks food that he doesn’t like, there’s an art studio where her living room should be, and he’s expected to do chores—including fishing, the most boring chore ever.
But one afternoon, while Nicky is trying to catch their dinner, a raft drifts down the river towards him. The raft has a calming magic about it, affecting both Nicky and the wildlife of the river and woods. Through the raft and the adventures it brings him on, Nicky finds new common ground with his grandmother, a fellow river rat, who encourages him to explore his newfound talent for art.
This is an imagination-sparking story about appreciating the simple, natural joys of the world and the people in it, and about discovering and exploring one’s own talents. School Library Journal proclaimed, “This dazzling picture book is an artistic triumph.” The author’s note describes the similarities between Jim LaMarche's own life and the life of his protagonist.
- Print length40 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade levelKindergarten - 3
- Lexile measureAD540L
- Dimensions11 x 0.09 x 9.25 inches
- PublisherHarperCollins
- Publication dateMay 28, 2002
- ISBN-100064438562
- ISBN-13978-0064438568
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
“The luminous illustrations evoke a magical aura.” — The Horn Book
“The sunlight on the dock and in Grandma’s cottage and the moonlight and dawn on the river are rendered with particular grace, while the figures of the animals are lively and direct.” — ALA Booklist
“This dazzling picture book is an artistic triumph.” — School Library Joumal
“Exquisitely rendered pastel drawings.” — Publishers Weekly
From the Back Cover
Nicky isn't one bit happy about spending the summer with his grandma in the Wisconsin woods, but them the raft appears and changes everything. As Nicky explores, the raft works a subtle magic, opening up the wonders all around him--the animals of river and woods, his grandmother's humor and wisdom, and his own special talent as an artist.
About the Author
Jim LaMarche wrote and illustrated The Raft. He also illustrated Little Oh and The Rainbabies, both by Laura Krauss Melmed. He lives in Santa Cruz, California.
In His Own Words...
"It's funny how things turn out. I wasn't one of those kids with a clear vision of the future, the ones who know at age five that they will be writers or doctors or artists. I liked to draw, but then, so did most of the kids I knew, and growing up to be an artist never really occurred to me. What I did want to be, in order of preference, was a magician, Davy Crockett, a doctor, a priest (until I found out they couldn't get married), and a downhill ski racer.
"But I always loved to make things, and once I got going on a project I loved, I stuck with it. Once, when I was five or six, I cut a thousand cloth feathers out of an old sheet, which I then attempted to glue to my bony little body. I was sure I could have flown off the back porch if I'd just had a better glue. Another time I dug up some smooth blue-gray clay from the field behind our house, then molded it into an entire zoo, dried the animals in the sun, and painted them as realistically as I could. I made a grotto out of cement, a shoe box, and my fossil collection. I made moccasins out of an old deerhide I found in the basement.
"I grew up in the little Wisconsin town of Kewaskum, the soul of which was the Milwaukee River. In the summer we rafted on it and swam in it. In the winter we skated on it, sometimes traveling miles upriver. In the spring and fall my dad took us on long canoe trips, silently sneaking up on deer, heron, and fields of a thousand Canada geese. And almost all year long we fished for bullheads and northerns from the dam.
"I began college at the University of Wisconsin as a biology major, but somewhere along the line--I'm not sure when or even why--I switched to art, and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in art. I still had no idea of becoming a professional artist, however. In the meantime, I joined VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) and moved to Bismarck, North Dakota, to work with United Tribes of North Dakota creating school curriculum materials. It was a great job. Because there were only a few of us, I was able to try my hand at a little of everything: writing, graphic design, photography, and illustration. It was then that I slowly realized that it might be possible for me to make a living at art. I moved to California, and in the evenings-after working all day as a carpenter's assistant--I put together a portfolio.
"Twenty years later, I'm still here, living in Santa Cruz with my wife, Toni, and our three sons, Mario, Jean-Paul, and Dominic. The Pacific Ocean is only a few blocks away, and the scenery is very different from that of the Midwest, but somehow Kewaskum and the Milwaukee River show up in almost everything I draw. They provided the details of setting for The Rainbabies, Carousel, and Grandmother's Pigeon, and they are the setting for the book I'm working on now, my own story about the magic of a raft.
"I feel very lucky to have ended up as an illustrator of children's books. And maybe that isn't so different from my childhood dream of being a magician after all. Starting with a clean sheet of paper and with nothing up my sleeves, I get to create something that was never there before."
Product details
- Publisher : HarperCollins; Reprint edition (May 28, 2002)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 40 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0064438562
- ISBN-13 : 978-0064438568
- Reading age : 4 - 9 years, from customers
- Lexile measure : AD540L
- Grade level : Kindergarten - 3
- Item Weight : 7.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 11 x 0.09 x 9.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #50,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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There is loads of imagery in this story and it makes the kids really interested in the mystery of the raft. They can come up with several themes as well. My kids had to do a lot of inferencing throughout the story about character feelings, asking why questions, etc. overall it’s a great book!
Top reviews from other countries
I read this to my children multiple times and am pleased to have it in our collection.