I Talk Like a River

A boy gets ready for school, in anxious silence.  Once in class, he hides at the back in the hope he won’t be asked to speak.  But the teacher directs a question his way, causing his peers to swivel round in their seats to watch him stumbling over his words.  His father senses the anguish when he collects him from school, and takes him for a peaceful walk by the river, where the boy’s stomach still rages like a storm, his eyes still filling up ‘with rain’.  Together they quietly watch the water, as it churns and whirls, flowing towards quiet, smooth waters beyond. The father observes that is how his son speaks.

It’s almost a throwaway line (inspired by something the author’s own father once said), but the power of the metaphor is immense, spurring the boy to start finding the strength and self-acceptance he needs.

This stunning picture book exquisitely conveys both the challenges of speech difficulties but also the beauty of connecting with nature.  Written with lived experience, but without direct references to stammering in the text, it avoids any sense of being an ‘issue’ book and instead speaks to any child, every child.   The watercolour illustrations are breathtakingly alive, drawing the reader into each scene to directly share the boy’s experiences – a blurry sea of expectant faces in the classroom, spiky words sticking in his throat and the dazzling beauty of the sun dancing on the surface on the river in a dramatic double gatefold.  Packed with images of the natural world around us, you can almost hear the reassuring sounds of nature, gently grounding you.  Equally comforting is the quiet message that speech difficulties are natural and not to be fought. Like water, sometimes they will stumble over rocks, other times they flow smoothly.

An unforgettable picture book about the power of nature, embracing differences and accepting ourselves.