We read Letting Swift River Go this week at school. Tells the story of the damming of the Swift River, from the perspective of a young girl whose home and town are dismantled to make way for the lake.
Well done, highly recommended for the check-out-at-your-local-library list. My three-year-old sat still for it (hot-chocolate assisted) and all my big kids (5,7,9) listened with interest. Fits well into mid-20th century American history (all ages), or for little kids, as part of the famous “my town” social studies topic, if you happen to have a dam of your own. Covers the entire process from making-the-decision to lake-is-full. I did need to explain to the kids that our local man-made lake was created for a different purpose (hydro-power) than the water project in the story.
More details available at the author Jane Yolen’s blog.
