A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History

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I have used this wonderful non-fiction as a source to introduce many different concepts to my ELL classes. History, timeline, nonfiction, theme, mind mapping, setting, environmental challenges and much more. The content may be written at mid to lower elementary and it is loaded with colorful illustrations, but the content is so very valuable to history, ELA , geography, science, home study teachers and parents. I happen to live right next to the river, so field trips to the local historical society's display and to the guided Nashua Walkway are wonderful extensions. Still, even without the extensions, the book is a treasure.

This is one of my all time favorite books. Perfect for a preschool ( and above) study of native Americans of New England - and how modern day practices can cause pollution and determination can change things. From this book stems a whole unit during our fall and Thanksgiving - helping to inspire kids to appreciate and care for the nature around them while studying the history that surrounds the river that has flowed through it! It inspires drawings and block play and science experiments in our classroom.

A wonderful, wonderful book. It shows, without politicizing, the decline of a river over time, and then the restoration of the river back to health. It gives insight into the Native Americans philosophy about revering nature and using only as much as you need. The book then follows the health of the river through the industrial revolution and modern times - up to the point where descendants of the Native Americans who first discovered and named the river mobilize others in a community effort to save it. Excellent book.

While used, the book is in terrific condition. The book will be used in 4th grade classes as they study the Industrial Revolution. The book describes how a community comes together to clean up their river after it had been polluted for decades by local factories.

As a boy, I swam in this river, above the polluted parts of course. I was hoping for more photographs. The text was good, but should have included photographs to convey the realism. It's one thing to read about the smell of the stuff in the river, but seeing a photo of a dying fish floating by would have been better. The story of it's clean-up was not, in my opinion, adequately portrayed. It took a long time, and much devotion to see it through.

I love this book. Found it from an elem. ed course I am taking on social studies. I read it to my 5yr old and it brings up great questions to talk about during read and after. Gives kids an idea of change and continuity and a sense of timelines in history all while showing effects of pollution and how humans can either do good or bad things with their choices. Not in your face about topic but subtle and engaging.

Another wonderful book by Cherry. My grand kids love it.

A great book about the environment!