- Picture Books
- Ages 4–8
- Everyday Life
The River
A lyrical emotional-literacy picture book using a river as a metaphor for changing feelings. Particularly useful for children dealing with sadness, anger, grief or big moods that come and go.
- Best for4–8
- FormatPicture
- Length32 pp
- Read aloud~6 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Lyrical
- Literary
Tone
- Gentle
- Bittersweet
- Thought provoking
- Heartwarming
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Rowan loves the river near his home. Some days it is calm and quiet, other days it is playful, and sometimes it roars with anger. As Rowan experiences his own shifting feelings, the river becomes a way to understand that emotions change shape and intensity without being wrong. Review sources and teaching materials often connect the book with grief and the loss of Rowan's dog, making it more emotionally specific than a general feelings book. Tom Percival's illustrations mirror the movement of water and mood, helping children see that sadness, anger and calm can all be part of the same inner landscape. The River is a strong recommendation for emotional literacy, especially for children who need metaphors rather than direct instruction. It is gentle, but it may be poignant for children with recent pet loss or grief.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 4–8
- Read aloud · 4–9
- Independent · 6–9
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Excellent
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Bedtime
- Reading together
- Gift-buying
- Reluctant readers
Preview before sharing if a child is sensitive to: death of pet, grief.
Bedtime suitability
4 / 5 · Bedtime-friendly
Sensitive-child
3 / 5 · Mostly fine
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Grief
- Pet loss
- Big feelings
- Emotional literacy
- Nature metaphor
Avoid if
- Recent pet loss too raw
- Wants light comedy
- Very sensitive to grief
Particularly good for children who are…
- Pet death
- Bereavement
- Anger management
- Anxiety and worry
- Low self esteem
In the classroom
How it works in school.
A beautiful Tom Percival read-aloud using a river to explore turbulent feelings — a lovely PSHE prompt for talk about emotions and calm.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific weight is the dog gone — Rowan finding his shifting feelings mirrored in the river by his house, calm and playful and roaring, the metaphor working as both nature observation and grief vocabulary. The Percival emotional-literacy picture book for the child mid-pet-loss.
- Family belonging
- Making a difference
Why parents love it
The Tom Percival emotional-literacy picture book — softer art than the Big Bright Feelings series, the river-as-mood metaphor genuinely accessible. Pet-loss subtext makes this particularly useful for children grieving an animal; gentle but properly poignant.
- Conversation starter
- Beautiful illustrations
- Bedtime appropriate
- Great writing
About the author & illustrator
Tom Percival.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
Where you’ll find it
On these reading lists.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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