Review by Booklist Review
This beautifully realized picture book from venerable author Weatherford is yet another example of her marvelous ability to humanize historic events and relate them to young audiences. This offering personifies the mighty Alabama River that flows from Montgomery to Mobile. Past-tense verbs describe what the waters have witnessed over past centuries, from ancient plants and animals that are now fossils, through Indigenous settlements and Spanish conquistadors, to European settlers and the establishment of the city of Selma, to the arrival of enslaved laborers, the Civil War, Jim Crow, and the 1965 voting rights demonstrations, three violent but successful marches led by Martin Luther King Jr. As in her previous works, brief, straightforward sentences report actual events, additional lyrical text provides personal perspective from participants, and excerpts from spirituals bring in universal elements of persistence, forbearance, and the yearning for freedom. Collier's expressive illustrations of "acrylic on canvas combined with watercolor paintings collaged on top" align perfectly and help propel the action; a time line and illustrator's note create context. This book packs in power as it illuminates Alabama's past.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Boston Weatherford and Collier limn an arresting history of the Alabama River from the water body's perspective in this distinctive picture book. Incorporating simple facts ("318 miles long, fifty to 200 yards wide") and lyrics from spirituals ("Gonna lay down my burden down by the riverside"), emotionally resonant text traces that which has flowed "past my banks." Early lines emphasize the age of the river, which predates the fossils in its basin and the Indigenous Choctaw in whose language its name means "Thicket Clearers." Proceeding pages note that the river watched enslaved people fleeing bondage, stood witness to the Trail of Tears, saw the Black Belt's birth, and viewed the violence of Bloody Sunday. Picturing figures above and below the water's surface, linked by bubbles rising from the deep, collaged acrylic and watercolor illustrations show how the living and the lost share the same history. It's an accurate telling that acknowledges a continuation of resistance driven by "oppressed masses in boats on the bottom/... afloat as if an armada." A timeline and illustrator's notes conclude. Ages 4--8. (Jan.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3--The Alabama River, spanning 318 miles from Montgomery to Mobile, has witnessed numerous historic events. The river has been there longer than most, before the English settlers, before Africans were enslaved in chains. In 1802, a group of Cherokee were forced out of the area along the Trail of Tears, and the Alabama River was there, watered by their tears. From the Black Belt to the Civil War to the fight for civil rights, the Alabama River has seen it all. A group of voting rights demonstrators crossed the Bridge over the Alabama in a horrific day that became known as "Bloody Sunday." Far from being a deterrent, this tragic event inspired more marches across the river in pursuit of equal voting rights for Black Americans. In Weatherford's exceptional account of the historic events, the river becomes a character itself, and through its eyes, readers are able to see all the disheartening and powerful moments that transpired nearby. Collier expertly uses traditional media like collage, acrylic, and watercolor to create emotional and dynamic scenes, featuring individuals of various skin tones and body types. Weatherford effortlessly transports readers through each era of history. Set apart in a handwritinglike font are lyrics from various river-themed traditional spirituals, such as "Down by the Riverside" and "Wade in the Water." Building this connection between the spirituals and the Alabama River enables readers to see the significance of the river across time. VERDICT This phenomenal historical account of the Alabama River is a must-purchase for all library collections.--Myiesha Speight
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In a powerful first-person narrative, the Alabama River recounts its role as a witness to pivotal moments in American history -- from its geological origins to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The river, whose name in Choctaw means "Thicket Clearers," reflects on centuries of transformation: the arrival of Europeans in 1702, forced migration of the Cherokee during the Trail of Tears, and exploitation of enslaved Africans in the cotton-rich Black Belt. It observes the Civil War, the era of sharecropping, and the long struggle for civil rights. The narrative reaches a crescendo with the Selma voting rights movement, notably the violence of Bloody Sunday at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where peaceful marchers were met with brutal force. Yet the movement surged forward, "a mighty river, coursing through hearts and minds." Weatherford's authentic and innovative storytelling transforms history into a deeply resonant experience. Her use of lines from Negro spirituals adds emotional depth. Collier's stunning mixed-media illustrations -- acrylic on canvas layered with watercolor collage -- visually echo themes of perseverance and hope, with striking use of blue throughout. A "History Along the Alabama River" timeline and illustrator note are appended. Pauletta Brown BracyJanuary/February 2026 p.94 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The Alabama River tells its story--a tale as long and wide as the waterway itself. Reminiscent of Langston Hughes'The Negro Speaks of Rivers, illustrated by E.B. Lewis (2009), this elegantly wrought, first-person telling is both human and natural history. Lines from Negro spirituals that sing of rivers, like "Wade in the Water," appear between Weatherford's stanzas in a scriptlike font. The Alabama describes its size ("318 miles long, fifty to 200 yards wide, / and from three to forty feet deep") and notes that its Choctaw name means "Thicket Clearers." It also recalls enslaved Africans hiding in its waters as they sought freedom and the Cherokee people who passed its banks on the Trail of Tears. Throughout, Collier's signature collage illustrations add richness, depth, hope, and light to the river's weighty story. Weatherford never flinches from the horrors of oppression: victims of lynching thrown into the river, civil rights protesters beaten as they made their way across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965. But Collier's paintings emphasize Black and Native Americans' determination to survive and triumph. The inclusion of blue spheres--a motif that pops up in many of the illustrator's works--suggests that the downtrodden, like air bubbles, will rise. Weatherford's extensive historical timeline will give budding historians much to consider and research further. A gorgeously illustrated, truthfully told history that no collection should be without.(Informational picture book. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
