Very cute poetry book for children. Comparing life to all parts of nature every child is sure to find a poem they relate to and their choice will likely change by day as moods and emotions do and as we grow. A wonderful addition to any child’s book collection.

This book was very calming to read and I enjoyed the illustrations a lot. It would be a good book to read with kids before winding down to bedtime.

This is a cute book in verse that has vibrant and beautiful illustrations to take hold of the reader and make them want to read more.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

These poems do not rhyme. I was a creative writing major before I dropped out of college (thanks Depression), so I'm well aware that poems don't have to rhyme. That being said, I feel like in a book targeted towards children, rhyming is kind of a big deal to encourage engagement. I think about how fun Shel Silverstein's poems were to read as a kid and how some of those have really stuck with me (like Boa Constrictor). While these poems did get me using my imagination in regards to nature, I'm just not sure a kid would find them interesting enough to want to read them again, or attempt to write their own nature inspired poems (although the lack of rhyming would at least make that endeavor seem less daunting).

The illustrations were whimsical and colorful, taking me to nature from my cubicle at work (I was on lunch). They were as varied as the poems were. While I'd be okay reading this book a few times to a children, as I mentioned before, I'm not sure a kid would really be that interested in a repeat. Overall I give this book 3.87 out of 5 stars.

A mindful set of persona poems, from a narrator that claims individually to be a cloud, or a river, or a paintbrush of a snake. It seems these will go down well with many an embodied learning exercise (see within) but I don't know as the young me would have enjoyed these short verses that much. There's no denying this is a pretty book, and it will find an audience, but I wouldn't include me at the front of the queue.

Although I appreciated the goal of the story to help children imagine themselves as parts of nature, I did not find the poems particularly engaging, especially for children. There were beautiful illustrations.

Unfortunately, I wasn't the biggest fan of this one, the writing was just okay and I wasn't in love with the illustrations. My kids didn't sit through the book either and were wanting to go to another book. The book is very colorful, but for some reason, I was also having a hard time getting into it. Maybe different illustrations would help?

This had such beautiful words and pictures! I would recommend this for classrooms, libraries and at home!

This sweet picture book in verse weaves together beautiful illustrations with the imagery in the text to create a wonderful master piece. Each poem (page) is another element of nature, including trees, rivers and owls. Each poem includes some rhyming words, but does not follow a standard ABAB or AABB pattern, in fact there are actually quite a variety of rhyming patterns that would be interesting for children to explore. It would also be interesting to look at the use of repetition and alliteration - can you tell I'm a teacher? lol. In summary, this is a beautiful book inside and out, and would be a perfect addition to a family bookshelf or an elementary library, as it is full of great literary ideas and has picturesque images and words to soothe readers. I would highly recommend it! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book!

This picture book has a full poem with each page turn. At times I would have preferred the poems broken up by line with illustrations being more descriptive, but overall I did enjoy the book.

What a lovely book. My son is 3.5 and I think he would enjoy this, especially with the gorgeous illustrations. But I'm 35 and I also felt a deep sense of calm while reading this. I absolutely love children's books that expose them to beautiful poetry!

Beautiful illustration. Cute “I am” poems you could really use this wit a lesson in poetry in elementary levels. You could use it to introduce poetry and incorporate writing by students choosing their favorite one from the book to model with their own writing. I liked how it makes you feel like people are always evolving and becoming a better version of themselves.

This beautifully illustrated collection of poems is sure to be a hit with little readers. While Today I Am A River is made up of a variety of poems, each is brief enough that this book could be read through in its entirety as a whole-class read aloud. The theme of each poem aligns perfectly with the colorful watercolor illustrations, and children will get a giggle out of the more unexpected titles (looking at you, Skunk!).

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. A fun picture book written in tense or poetry about kids playing in nature.

The book did not hold the attention of my 4 year old all the way through but he did enjoy the book starting out. I would recommend reading a poem or two at a time dependent on the season and not all at once. The poems are great in that they can be adapted to accompany different activities with your child however you see fit! The illustrations were very cute.

In Today I Am a River, a lyrical introduction states, “I can be anything / everything.” What follows are fourteen free verse poems, each on its own full page spread, that use phrases like “today I am” and “now I am” to personify various elements of nature, like animals, rain, clouds, and wind (to name a few). Backmatter discusses the principal of embodied learning and lists practical ways we can explore the world using our bodies.

The poems throughout Today I Am a River are easy to read and beautiful in their simplicity. They don’t feel beyond the capacity of a child themselves to write, but also don’t lack in sophistication, a balance for which this author should be applauded. The illustrations are soft and whimsical, though some have strange physics-defying features that may or may not have been intentional on the artist’s part. I prefer to err on the side of whimsy, but since the perspective is accurate in some illustrations and not others, it’s impossible to know for sure. The backmatter is informative and actionable, though the word “embodied” could have been better defined for young readers.

Minor, but a missed opportunity: since the first poem is Today I Am a River, I expected the poem Cloud with the line “…and become / a river again” would be the last. Instead, there are two more, ending with Evening, perhaps to make this more of a bedtime book.

Most characters present cis, straight, and able-bodied, with variations in skin tone on almost every page.

An excellent read and a fantastic addition to any shelf.

"Today I am a River" is a poetry book that highlights different parts of nature and its characteristics. The illustrations that accompany each poem really add to the experience as they have a watercolor, dreamlike essence to them. It encourages kids to role-play being different things in nature like the sun or wind, which is a wonderful meditation experience.

Poetry books for kids with beautiful writing and art have been something I have struggled to find. As a preschool teacher, I strive to make sure my students are getting exposure to lots of different kinds of literature, but poetry is something I don't have enough of. I will definitely be adding this book to my collection!

Everything I could have asked for in a Children’s book plus incredible poetry. I cannot wait to read this over and over with my kids.

Today im a river by Kate Coombs with illustrations by Anna Laitinen is a short book that made me close my eyes and evoke many of the things the author was describing. It made me feel the wind blowing through the forest, see how the leaves on the trees change and hear the river flowing down the hillside.
The animals that the author has selected are peculiar, but in the good sense of the word, since spiders and snakes are among the most feared and most feared living beings in the animal kingdom, but the way she describes them in her narration has made me feel more curious than anything else.

The illustrations that accompany the descriptions seem to jump out of the book and I liked the fact that the children were the protagonists, as they are the ones who are curious, who ask questions, who are not afraid and who look at the world with different eyes.
Kate Coombs makes poetry with her words and has made me travel back to my childhood, feeling nostalgic for that way of living, feeling or observing things.
I think that capacity for wonder comes back with books like Today im a river.

I remember that when I was little, every day and every hour I changed my mind and I wanted to have one profession or another, to go to one place or another. So when I read Today im a... in the book, I was eager to see what the author had chosen and how she feels about it.
It is difficult to put yourself in the shoes of the wind or of a river and that, when reading, you feel that it has a spirit and that it has communicated with Kate.
32 pages that I didn't really enjoy. I enjoyed it very much and I recommend it to adults and children alike.

This picture book features simple, nature-themed poems and charming, colorful illustrations of natural scenes. The book moves through different seasons and takes the perspective of different plants, creatures, and times of day, imagining their perspectives and showing what we can learn from them. Although these are not traditional rhyming poems, they have a consistent meter and are highly readable, with a strong sense of rhythm and pacing. I enjoyed the creative style, and the solid mix of concrete images and figurative language.

Although many people assume that picture books are only for the 0-5 crowd, this book would be excellent for school-age kids to read and use as inspiration for their own poetry. The final page in the book offers some suggestions for different ways to experience the poems and write similar things.