There is something romantic about Mississippi riverboats and I think Mark Twain had a hand in making me think that. He wrote about the long, slow river, the moonlit nights, the truck and trade of the days, and the colorful characters along the way.

So it makes sense that I would be attracted to Mark Twain and the Queens of the Mississippi, a picture book aimed at first through third graders, written and illustrated by Cheryl Harness.

I enjoyed this book. The pictures and text had a somewhat rambling feel to them, which fit the twin subject matters of Mark Twain and the Mississippi River.

I thought the author started the book too early, giving too much history of the river before Mark Twain came on the scene. The title said the book was to be about Mark Twain and the steam boats that paddled up and down the river, but for the first several pages I read about the Indians that lived along the river, how big the river was, and the fight between the North and South. I think this backstory diluted the story I wanted when I picked up the book with Mark Twain and steamboats on its cover.

I read on, though, and am glad I did. I learned enough about Mark Twain to want to read more about him. I connected with him. I admired his sense of adventure and I felt sorry for him as I read about his losses.

So I’m very glad I read the book and I think it is a wonderful starter book for students to read, so they can see if they might be interested in reading more about Mark Twain or the Mississippi River.

The pictures in this book are perfect for young readers. There are picture maps of the river showing the different towns at different times in history. There are several pictures that are of the “pictorial encyclopedia entry” type. And there is much detail in the pictures so you can spend some time noticing things. Perfect for a picture book of this sort! Just the thing to keep boys interested and to set their thoughts soaring to new adventures they might take themselves on one day.

For more great posts about nonfiction children’s books, head over to Practically Paradise, a School Library Journal Blog. Diane Chen has put a beautiful post–with pictures!–and you don’t want to miss the great books over there.

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