Rivertime by Trace Balla
Allen & Unwin, 2014. ISBN 9781743316337.
(Age: 6+) Clancy is 10.5 years old or 3832.5 days or 91,980 hours
old, and is obsessed with numbers. He lives with his mum who is an
artist and his Uncle Egg, a very keen bird-watcher. Egg has been
waiting for Clancy to grow as high as his chest so they can go on a
paddling trip up the river together. Clancy isn't so sure that it
will be much fun, especially when he discovers that it is an
extended camping trip - ten days, 240 hours, 14,400 minutes - and in
a canoe, not a hovercraft, and only essentials are allowed. He
writes, "Day 1: After a lumpy, bumpy night, I'm grumpy." and watches
Egg load the canoe grumbling and mumbling and knowing he is not
going to like this adventure and an encounter with a brown snake in
the water just as they're contemplating a swim doesn't change his
view. But as the journey goes on, Clancy sees and experiences new
things - things that are more interesting than his television and
other toys left behind - and learns much about life in all its
colours, shades and hues, including rivertime, the tidal gap between
breathing in and breathing out and which offers such peace and
tranquility and reflection.
Set on the Glenelg (Bochara) River which flows out of Gariwerd (aka
The Grampians), parts of which are the traditional home of the
Gundjitmara and Boandik peoples, and told in a graphic novel format,
this is a story of Clancy's journey - not just along the river but
also the physical, mental and emotional journey of the transition
from child to young man. His final triumph of conquering the jetty
exit is perfect! And his victory dance shows just how far he has
travelled. Its gentle colours add to the atmosphere and each page is
peppered with little bush creatures and their names, the things that
the Clancy of the beginning wouldn't see and couldn't appreciate,
but which the Clancy of the end values, even abandoning his
obsession with numbers. Now, when a speedboat cuts through the
water, Clancy feels sorry for the river's creatures. As David Suzuki
says, "All children need an Uncle Egg to open up the magical world
of nature."
This is an extraordinary book - one to be read alone and savoured
because there are so many layers and levels to it. It's not just the
story of Clancy and Egg and their journey, but a calming, almost
meditative, read for the reader. Often when we pick up a picture
book we just skim read it just as we can "skim read" our daily lives
because we don't think we have time to delve deeper and really
appreciate and value what we have, but as you get into this story it
drags you in, just as it did Clancy, until you become absorbed and
oblivious to the distractions around you. Just as the wallaby
swimming across the river and the koala changing trees, it beckons
you to try a new place just because you can. The handwritten font
enhances the concept of it being a personal journey for both writer
and reader. So while the younger student may read it as Clancy
having an adventure with his Uncle Egg, there is much more that the
older reader will gain from it too. In the penultimate frame, Egg
says, "You've come a long way, kid", to which Clancy replies, "Yeah,
and I could keep going." Sums it all up perfectly, in my opinion.
Barbara Braxton