Riparia’s River

CLASSROOM GUIDE

Skipping Stones Honor Award

Green Earth Award Honor Book

Reading Is Fundamental’s 2012 / 2013 Multicultural Collection

In RIPARIA’S RIVER, by Michael Caduto, when Gretchen, Jason, Mark, and Daphne find their favorite swimming hole filled with green slime, they are horrified. A mysterious, almost magical naturalist named Riparia helps the children understand why the water became polluted-and together they figure out what they can do to bring clean water back to the river they all love. This lively story about non-point source pollution is filled with both information and action. Realistic, lush illustrations by Olga Pastuchiv illuminate the children’s passion for their river and the ecosystem it supports.

Available wherever books are sold.
Michael J. Caduto is an author, ecologist, storyteller, and musician who presents programs and performances to children of all ages around the world. In addition to being the only environmentalist who has ever used CPR to save a chipmunk’s life, he is well known as the creator and co-author of the international best-selling Keepers of the Earth series, Native American Gardening, and Pond and Brook: A Guide to Nature in Freshwater Environments.

Olga Pastuchiv is a children’s book author, painter, and commercial illustrator. Whether working on a fishing boat in Greece or as a landscape gardener in New England, Olga is always painting. She paints things large and small, from murals and parade floats to illustrations for several poetry and botany collections and a cookbook. Her picture book Minas and the Fish (Houghton Mifflin, 1989) is about a fisherman’s boy she met on Karpathos Island. Olga lives in Maine with two cats.
“Riparia embodies the spirit of people everywhere who care about streams, wildlife, and clean water.” —Paul T. Zeph, Former President, North American Association for Environmental Education

“A fairy tale about water and a lesson on how kids can help clean up their streams and ponds. Long live Riparia!” —Alice Outwater, author of Water: A Natural History

“The spirit of rivers comes alive—literally—in Riparia’s River. By gently teaching a small group of children about river systems and habitats, the mysterious Riparia empowers them to lead a community effort to restore an ecosystem badly out of balance. The combination of education, empowerment, and action make this book ideal for inspiring readers to care about water resources.” —Dennis L. Nelson, President and CEO of the Project WET Foundation

“If a river could talk, it would sound like Riparia.” —Paper Tigers

“A wonderful, empowering story for children who will inherit the rivers” —The Midwest Book Review