Author: Roland Harvey
ISBN: 978-1-76011-245-5
RRP: $24.99
On The River is a delightful picture book with a target audience of 5-10yr olds about the Murray River. My audience was much younger than that and he couldn’t concentrate on the story but had a wonderful time checking out the pictures and seeing what we could see.
Written and illustrated by Roland Harvey, one of Australia’s best-loved illustrators, On The River is both educational and entertaining. The illustrations take up most of the page and with a young audience that is always a good thing. The pictures are vibrant and colourful with lots of hidden gems to search out on each page.
The Murray River is an essential element of life for many people across thousands of kilometres and the river boasts a fascinating ecosystem. The Murray is important to graziers, food growers, communities, flora and fauna and it’s a system that most of us probably take for granted. You don’t think too deeply about it, it’s just there and it always will be… but if we don’t look after these vitally important ecosystems they won’t always be there. The best way to start looking after them is to educate on their importance and if we educate the children that are set to inherit then we can ensure that they always know the importance.
The Murray is such a massive river, from it’s top to the Murray mouth, forming part of the NSW/Victorian border and steeped in glorious history.
Roland takes us on a journey as he travels from the top at the headwaters, through many a small riverside town, showing us what may be found and all the ways that the river is utilised, right on through to the Murray Mouth.
We see waterskiing, canoes, cricket, walking, fishing, paddle-steamers, windsurfers, houseboats and a glorious range of native animals. Roland briefly educates on the ecology, the history and the wildlife of the mighty Murray River. There is also a short note from the Murray to the Darling about how to look after river health.
The tone of the story is light and witty, with both text and pictures that will engage audiences of every age.
For those who are really into the history and learning all they can, the front and back inner covers are a mudmap with HEAPS of information. Exciting and important places, information and tidbits of interesting trivia. I really want to put some little snippets here but … I’m not going to.
On The River is an engaging and interesting look at the Murray River that is sure to entertain audiences young and old. I intend to read it with my other children tomorrow.
You can keep up to date with Roland Harvey over at RolandHarvey.com.au.
On The River is available through Allen & Unwin from June 22nd, also Angus and Robertson Bookworld, Booktopia and where all good books are sold.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
Such a great book my Grandson loved it found it fascinating & told him heaps about the Murray river which I am informed he relayed to his class at school.
I also enjoyed the book it also told me things I didn’t know about this Mighty Murray.
The illustrations were so good & very clever so as to keep the attention of certain age groups.
This is the kind of book I would like to see in schools very educational but fun I can certainly recommend it.
lots to learn in this book both my children loved the factual content and the illustrations- book would be great for a project and or camping trip, fab to find book that are entertaining about our country
thanks B and L
“On the River” is a children’s book, recommended for ages 5 -10 years. I think it’s better suited for a slightly older age group. I tested this on three kids – a 3 year old was bored silly. On the other hand, half way through Master 6 years spontaneously said “This is so interesting!”, and Master 8 wanted to know if we could read it again later since he’d had far too many questions to be answered first time round. It seemed to hit the mark far more strongly with Master 8 than Master 6; he was the one who wanted to read it again immediately.
This isn’t a storybook. It’s more a connected series of short scenes. I think that’s why it lost Miss 3 – there wasn’t a story or characters for her to get interested in. On the other hand, the older two were really interested in the ideas and questions being thrown up, and were keen to ask for more detail and information, and look closely at the detailed pictures.
I wouldn’t read this at bedtime – there’s just too much to discuss in it, and they’ll be up till midnight. It is however a great book for sitting down with in the afternoon when you’ve got a bit more time to talk as you go.
This is a really clever, interesting book, particularly if you want to introduce your kids to concepts around looking after the environment, or Australian history. It doesn’t talk down to kids, but at the same time it’s simple enough for them to grasp most of the ideas first time around. The older kids and I enjoyed it, and we’ll enjoy going through it again to explore some pages and ideas in more detail. It’s a book with the potential to be revisited quite a number of times, I suspect.
Thank you for the opportunity to review “On The River”.
I read the book with my Grandson who is almost 5 and I definitely agree with other’s comments that this book is suited to an older age group than the suggested 5 to 10 years. The exception to this would be those younger children who are already familiar with the Murray River and can relate to the places talked about.
My Grandson initially was interested in finding Roland Harvey on each page, and loved the idea of a bumboat (“I like bums”, giggle giggle) but quickly tired of the book as there was no “storyline” as such and the concepts were beyond him, even after I tried just talking about what was on each page, and not reading the actual text.
I think the book is a great way to introduce older children to our great river (perhaps 7 and above where their reading skills have improved and they can understand the little sidelines and comedic comments at the bottom of the page and within the drawings), and the importance of looking after it.
I note that on the acknowledgement and catalogue page there is a direction to the Allen and Unwin page for accompanying Teachers Notes which would be an excellent resource for bringing the book more to life.
I look forward to taking my Grandson to experience some of the places mentioned within the book and then using the book to engender discussion about those places when he is a little older.
“On the River” by Roland Harvey was a lovely book that both my 11 year old and 10 year old enjoyed. I read it to both of them after dinner, during reading time and it bought out lots of questions and curiosity between them.
With so much details and illustrations in the book, there is a lot to discover and discuss which takes this book a longer time to read. My 10 year old wouldn’t turn the page till she found Roland and the pelican which frustrated the eldest but we did get through it and enjoyed it thoroughly!
They were both very interested in the workings of the Murray and could relate some things they had learnt at school, the youngest took the book to show her teacher.
On the River by Roland Harvey is a facinating book, filled with lots of illustrations and factual information about the Murry River. This story is both engaging to adult whom are reading the book and children as well, making the information serious but silly at just the right moment. The illustrations are very well done and thought out.
My child Lilly and I are thankful for the opportunity to read the book and we loved it!
This book is extreamly unique and beautiful. Lilly really engaged in reading this book and enjoyed it witch is a very good thing because she usually has a very short attention span but this book kept her engaged and paying attention.
Thank you beauty and lace for letting me review this book, it was an amazing experience.
I was very excited to be selected to read and review “On the River” by Roland Harvey to my 5 year old son.
He’s very interested in books and he’s starting to read very basic books and he especially loves our night time ritual of a bed time story.
I also agree with the other reviewers, this story is probably suited for a slightly older age group. My son loved looking at the detailed illustrations but found it hard to concentrate on the story at hand. He did enjoy looking for Roland on each page, it reminded him of “Where’s Wally” books. The illustrations are so detailed and we quite enjoyed discussing the little activities and spotting funny little goings on, intermingled with the story about the Murray River.
I think give him a few more years and he will get more from this wonderful, informative book about the history Murray River. It was a nice touch that it included a message about treating your environment respectfully.
“On the River” is a beautifully illustrated book and I have really appreciated the opportunity to share this with my son.
On The River by Roland Harvey is beautifully illustrated book set on Australi’as Murray River. I read this book with my nephew , Master James , 5. We read it over three sittings. We both loved the story, although I’m sure I got more out of it that he did. It is definitely a book we can and will revisit on many occasions as he is growing up as it is very educational. He absolutely loved the Where’s Harvey aspect and every time we turned the page had to find him before we could continue reading.
I loved this book so much I have already bought a couple of copies to give as birthday gifts to my friends’ children.
Thank you Beauty & Lace and Allen & Unwin for giving me the opportunity to enjoy this book with my nephew.
What a wonderful book! Growing up on the Murray as a child, this book brought back so many wonderful memories. Not only is the story a lovely one to tell my 5, 8 and 10 year old but the extra information captured the attention of my 12 year old daughter. The kids loved looking for Roland on each page which made this book even more interactive.
For me, the detail in the drawings was wonderful, and truely captured the essence of the Murray river.
We have read and reread this book many times already and can see this book being ‘worn out’ with each child getting something different out of it time and time again.
My 3 year old enjoyed reading this book, he loved all the pictures and illustrations in the book but he got a bit bored considering it’s a long book and he prefers to read whole book in one go.
I can understand that this book caters for a bit older audience but it’s a nice book about Murray river and different activities enjoyed by people by the river. Me and my son both liked the little twist to find Roland on each page.
I particularly enjoyed the detailed illustrations that are great to engage kids and to support their imagination.
Overall it’s a nice book to have anyone familiar with Australian culture