Jordan Scotts / Sydney Smith: “I’m like the river” – culture

Canadian poet Jordan Scott’s childhood was overshadowed by his struggle against stuttering. He could not have found a better illustrator for his moving complaint than his compatriot Sydney Smith. Even with the cover picture, the artist arouses compassion and sympathy for this little boy, who is staring at the water that is pounding him, and with the blue-green colors, he gets the viewer in the mood for the subject of water. In the series of images on the first pages, the boy tells of the sound of words in the morning that he wakes up with but cannot pronounce. Sydney Smith sensitively accompanies the child in his fearful preparation for the day and shows how the boy endures the mornings at school, where he cannot utter a word. On a double page, the illustrator depicts the boy’s fear in body language and facial expressions in a portrait of great intensity. An image that will be remembered for a long time.

Fortunately, the father picks up his son from school and realizes his need. He drives him to the river and explains to him that his language is like the water in the river, which does not flow calmly, but “bubbles, swirls, spray, pushes forward”. Comforting thoughts that will help the boy. “The river is like me. That’s how I speak. The river stutters too. Like me.”

On several sheets of paper, including a fold-out double page, Sydney Smith has depicted the moving blue-green water of the river with white spray-crowns, in which the swimming boys, are immensely vivid. The phrase “I am like the river” becomes the leitmotif of the book. And the author ends his story hopefully: “In the morning I wake up to the sound of words around me. I go to school and tell about my favorite place. About the river. I’m like the river.” (from 5 years)

Jordan Scott: I’m like the river. With illustrations by Sydney Smith. Translated from the English by Bernadette Ott. Aladin 2021. 44 pages, 18 euros.

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