The Day the River Caught Fire, stranger than fiction kid lit for elementary

Which came first the chicken or the egg? That question is one that older readers might ponder after reading The Day the River Caught Fire. It’s the non-fiction story of how the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio caught fire and led to the creation of Earth Day. We just got back from Hollywood Studios in Orlando where the water catching on fire was one of the standout elements in a nighttime show. It’s a simple effect that does a great job at making audiences impressed due to the issue that one can easily defeat the other. However, water, due to its nature, should not catch on fire, should it?

The Day the River Caught Fire isn’t all about how the Cuyahoga River caught fire in the summer of 1969, thank you Bryan Adams. The act of the river catching on fire actually happens early in the book. It establishes how it caught on fire, geographical history of the area, the industrialization of it and how society as a whole was adapting to the planet’s ecological needs. Young readers will discover that other rivers that are in industrial areas in the 1960’s also caught on fire.

The industrial revolution was the root cause as to how the river was able to catch on fire. Factories that operated near the river, which was the main method for transporting bulk goods; would dump the byproducts, such as all of their chemicals, animal body parts, or physical debris into the water. Over decades the water began to stink and began to flow more like a gelatinous glob than the water that it should’ve resembled. Employees who worked near the river were advised to go to the hospital if they accidentally fell in. Then, in the summer of 1969, a train was crossing the bridge over the Cuyahoga and the sparks created by the friction between the wheels and the rails caused the sludge below to explode.

It didn’t take long to put the fire out, but the nationwide news that it created was ironic and pushed forth a new mindset. It’s ironic because it’s the last time that the river caught on fire, had been much larger previously, but became the most well-known river fire. That’s one reason why the eco-movement, Earth Day, and people’s concern for the environment jumped exponentially. The visual of a river being polluted enough to catch on fire became a stark visual in Time Magazine that still resonated decades later.

It’s not a flaw with The Day the River Caught Fire, but more a slow build-up that might confuse and frustrate some young readers. They will see that the fire happened in 1969 and then in 1970, i.e., the next year that the global call to action Earth Day occurred. In reality, it was building up throughout the 1960s. Unfortunately, political or social change doesn’t happen that quickly.

Most elementary ages won’t view the book as a timetable on pollution and the world’s major economies in dealing with it. The Day the River Caught Fire will appeal to those ages via its setup, succinct text, and lush paintings. The illustrations have a childlike appeal to them that look like something they’d create, but in actuality are the sort that will take them years or decades of practice. The text is short enough to allude to a much larger story that spans generations, yet allows kids to imagine themselves in it at any time. It’s also not preachy. Young readers care about the environment and don’t mind reading about it, so long as the book isn’t preachy or castigating them for not doing enough.

The Day the River Caught Fire is also a time capsule for those young ages. It was a freaky time when nobody had the power of 1,000 computers in a device that could fit in their pocket. The stupid things that we did were known only when our stupid friends told too many people. Our collars were bigger, our pant legs were flared and our rivers were dirtier. They were dirty and polluted to the point that they caught on fire. Granted, when the Cuyahoga River exploded it was getting cleaner than it was previously, but any river that catches on fire is symptomatic of a bigger issue that needed attention from an illustrated book. To that end, The Day the River Caught Fire is charming enough to be educational and detailed enough to be entertaining.

The Day the River Caught Fire is by Barry Wittenstein and illustrated by Jessie Hartland and is a Paula Wiseman Book, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

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