A RIVER'S GIFTS: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn. Congrats Patricia Newman! NEW Essay on gratitude to the environment and education

A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn by Patricia Newman, shows how a river, dammed for a century, was restored by a determined community.

NEW ESSAY by Patricia Newman on gratitude to the environment and children’s science education. : https://scicomm.plos.org/2022/09/12/what-does-gratitude-have-to-do-with-the-environment/

A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn. By Patricia Newman. Illus. by Natasha Donovan Sept. 2022. 48p. Lerner/Millbrook, $31.99 (9781541598706). Gr. 3–6. 639.90979

The Elwha River flows north through the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. and is the traditional lifeblood of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, “the Strong People.” In the 1790s, Sibert Honor Book author Newman (Sea Otter Heroes, 2017) explains, colonists came, cleared the wild plants from the riverbank, and cut down the trees to make homes. Worst of all, in 1910, a dam was built on the river to create electricity—electricity not provided to the Strong People—that flooded their land and killed the salmon and other wildlife. Newman then describes unexpected change as the Strong People fought to have dams on the Elwha removed, a fight they ultimately won, and the careful process of working to safely restore the river ecosystem to its prior health. Effectively using a compelling story to illustrate the concept of rewilding, this informative, striking presentation is powerful in its hopeful story that integrates history, environmental appreciation, and explanations of the interdependence of species in a landscape and the politics necessary to save them. With inset fact boxes on the Strong People’s creation myth and related themes, and with all set on a backdrop of Donovan’s beautiful pen, ink, and computer-generated images of the river, its people, and its wildlife, Newman could have another award winner on her hands. — Henrietta Verma

            Patricia Newman, activist and Sibert Medal Honoree, writes inspiring nonfiction books for children that show how actions for environmental justice can ripple around the world.  Free-flowing rivers nourish our environment and more than 1700 dams have been removed in the U.S., since 1912.  In A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn (Sept. 6, Lerner Publishing), for the first time, she tells the story of how this free-flowing river was restored.

             The book explains how the original ecosystem of the river, which fed salmon, plants, trees, elk and The Strong People, was destroyed in the 1800s by frontiersmen, who brought the miracle of electricity through the new dam. It also shows how human relationships with the river evolved over time. As the dam became obsolete, a desire to restore the river eventually brought together the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (The Strong People), local townspeople, environmentalists and even Pres. George Bush.

            A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn, a 2022 Junior Library Guild Selection, is illustrated by Natasha Donovan, a native Métis, who lives in northern Washington, like the Klallam Tribe. There is a feeling of “home” about her visuals, which vividly show the work behind the restoration. Scientists study how the original river flowed, geologists learn how to refurbish the riverbed, engineers figured out how best to dismantle the dam, and biologists identified the original plants, trees and, of course, the salmon, which all hoped would return with the river.

            A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn, is a wonderful conservation story that children can enjoy with hands-on learning, such as classroom “stream” tables and identifying river basins near them. This book, a new classic, joins Newman’s previous award-winning books; Planet Ocean (Orbis Picture Award Recommend, The Best Children’s Books of 2021), Sea Otter Heroes (Robert F. Sibert Honor, ALA Notable, Green Earth Book Award); Eavesdropping on Elephants (NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book), Zoo Scientists to the Rescue (Eureka! Gold Award, Banks Street Center Children’s Books of the Year); Plastic, Ahoy! (Green Earth Book Award, AAAS/Subaru Science Books and Film Prize, finalist); and Neema’s Reason to Smile (Parents’ Choice Recommended).

Book trailer: https://youtu.be/wEAseYWS18Y

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/patricia-newman/a-rivers-gifts/

A River’s Gifts. . A desecration. A rebirth.

Writing in stirring verse, Newman explains that in what is now Washington state, the Elwha River flowed north to the sea, nourishing the salmon that came each year to lay eggs. There were enough salmon to feed the birds, the animals, and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, the Strong People, for thousands of years. But when Europeans arrived in the 1790s, they cut down ancient trees to build houses near the river and wrote laws declaring that Strong People couldn’t fish or own land. In 1890, dams for generating electricity were built, effectively destroying the river and keeping the salmon from returning. In 1940, Olympic National Park expanded its boundaries to include the dams, and the Strong People worked together to restore the lost river and its habitat. The removal of two dams—the Glines Canyon Dam and Elwha Dam—took years of perseverance and cooperation among the Strong People, the National Park Service, and scientists. It was 2011 when the dams were finally removed; several years later, the rushing river called the salmon home again. Donovan’s illustrations, rendered in pencil and ink and digitally, are dynamic, with thick black outlines that pop off the page. Sidebars elaborate on elements introduced in the main text. Beautifully illustrated and informative, this story conveys the fragility of our environment and the need to protect it. An illuminating glimpse at the Elwha River and its gifts.”—starred, Kirkus Reviews

Here are some links to buy.  https://lernerbooks.com/shop/show/21801 and https://bookshop.org/books/a-river-s-gifts-the-mighty-elwha-river-reborn/9781541598706.

CONGRATS!!  A RIVER’S GIFTS: The Mighty Elwha Reborn. Published today!  Patricia Newman, author & Natasha Donovan, illustrator.  Here how the salmon feeds the river: 1-adults swim from ocean to their river to spawn 2-Birds and predators follow, 3-after adult salmon spawn and die, they fertilize the soil to feed plankton, trees, algae. Plants feed grazers elk, deer and insects., 4-newly hatched salmon feed on insects, 5-when salmon are old enough they journey to sea to gather nutrients and cycle begins again.

https://www.patriciamnewman.com/books/for more information.