I Talk Like a River wins multiple international book awards

I Talk Like a River is the recent recipient of the following awards:

Sankei Children's Book Award 
This award is the oldest children’s literary award in Japan. The Sankei Children's Book Award annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished Japanese children’s literature, picture book for children.”

HUCKEPACK Picture Book Award 
HUCKEPACK focuses on picture books that build a special bridge from the grown-up reader to the child being read to. Huckepacke, piggyback in english, is a metaphor for the reading situation: Grown-ups who carry their children piggyback give them stability and warmth and enable their children to see more of the world surrounding them. 

Wenjin Book Award
A national book award created to promote high quality books among readers encourage reading in China. The 17th annual award is sponsored by the National Library of China and the national library community. 

Premio Andersen Miglior Albo Illustrato and SuperPremio Andersen
The Andersen Prize is one of Italy's most important children's book awards. I Talk Like a River won for best illustrated book and best book overall. The award is chosen boy booksellers, librarians, journalists, and scholars. 

The Silver Slate Pencil (Zilveren Griffel)
One of the most prestigious prizes for Dutch children’s books, I Talk Like a River won in the category “best books for children aged 6-9 years old."  From the jury:

Overwhelming, powerful and unique: these are the qualifications that emerged during the jury deliberations about the book I talk like a river. The jury is impressed by the rich language, imagery in conjunction with the powerful illustrations. The author tells an authentic story with great expressiveness. …The book starts with fragments of texts where the emphasis is on certain letters. It is only later in the book that we discover the meaning of this collection of thoughts. They revolve around the different letters that the main character stumbles over on a daily basis. ... They form poetic phrases and lilting alliterations. But as soon as they want to flow out, they turn out to be rocks that cause the river of words to flow with difficulty. …But the river is also flexible and always looks for a way to keep flowing. The book therefore offers an important lesson not to give up, but to accept yourself as you are. Sydney Smith's evocative illustrations are not only beautiful, but give the story an important dimension. They express how the boy experiences the world.