What if words got stuck in the back of your mouth whenever you tried to speak? What if they never came out the way you wanted them to? Sometimes it takes a change of perspective to get the words flowing.

When a boy who stutters feels isolated, alone, and incapable of communicating in the way he'd like, it takes a kindly father and a walk by the river to help him find his voice. Compassionate parents everywhere will instantly recognize a father's ability to reconnect a child with the world around him.

Poet Jordan Scott writes this powerful and ultimately uplifting book, based on his own experience, and illustrated by Greenaway Medalist Sydney Smith. A book for any child who feels lost, lonely, or unable to fit in. (From Neal Porter Books)

I Talk Like a River is a finalist for the 2020 Governor General's Literary Prize for young people's literature — illustrated books.

Jordan Scott is a poet from Comox Valley, B.C. His books include Slit, Blert, Decomp, co-authored by Stephen Collis, and Night & Ox. Scott was awarded the 2018 Latner Writers' Trust Poetry Prize, which is given annually to a mid-career poet. I Talk Like a River is his first children's book.

Sydney Smith is an illustrator from Nova Scotia. The books he has illustrated include Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson and Town is by the Sea, written by Joanne Schwartz. He wrote and illustrated the picture book Small in the City, which won the 2019 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature, illustration.