RIVER

Gilliland (coauthor of Sami and the Time of the Troubles, 1992) evokes the Amazon's long course in spare, graceful prose, touching on the river's sources, celebrating its variety, and sampling the wealth of wildlife it supports. Powzyk, wildlife illustrator par excellence, provides double-spread watercolors that capture the waterway's source high in the Andes in sweeping impressionistic landscapes of remarkable simplicity, focus on the beauty of individual species, and lovingly evoke particular environments—a waterfall; treetop monkeys that never visit the forest floor and perhaps ``do not even know it is there''; ``river, forests,/clouds, and rain./And more./And more.'' Not an in-depth portrait, but a thoughtful and beautiful introduction, sure to inspire curiosity. Map. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 4-8)