Monday on the Mississippi

by Marilyn Singer, Frané Lessac (Illustrator)

Early Sunday morning,
when even the Mississippi
seems too tired to roll,
a single saxophone player
swaying on the Esplanade
wails the river's long story,
black-coffee bitter,
warm-beignet sweet
to anyone awake enough to listen.

Come take a tuneful trip down the great Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is as long with stories as it is with water. From its mouth at Lake Itasca, Minnesota, the river glides through cities and villages, farmlands and lakes, picking up tales of the past and present-all in the course of a week. By the time it has reached the Gulf Coast Delta in Louisiana, the river has traveled 2,300 miles on its historical, cultural journey.

This lyrically written and richly illustrated picture book pays tribute to America's most legendary and celebrated river.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 6, 2005

About the author

Marilyn Singer was born in the Bronx (New York City) on October 3, 1948 and lived most of her early life in N. Massapequa (Long Island), NY. She attended Queens College, City University of New York, and for her junior year, Reading University, England. She holds a B.A. in English from Queens and an M.A. in Communications from New York University.

In 1974, after teaching English in New York City high schools for several years, she began to write - initially film notes, catalogues, teacher's guides and film strips. Then, one day, when she was sitting in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, she penned a story featuring talking insect characters she'd made up when she was eight. Encouraged by the responses she got, she wrote more stories and in 1976 her first book, The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't, was published by E.P.Dutton & Co.

Since then, Marilyn has published over seventy books for children and young adults. Her genres are many and varied, including realistic novels, fantasies, non-fiction, fairy tales, picture books, mysteries and poetry. She likes writing many different kinds of books because it's challenging and it keeps her from getting bored. She has won several Children's Choice and Parents' Choice Awards, as well as the following: the Creature Carnival, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book, 2005; I Believe in Water: Twelve Brushes with Religion, New York Public Library's "Best Books for the Teen Age," 2001; Stay True: Short Stories for Strong Girls, Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2000 (YALSA); On the Same Day in March, Booklist's Top Ten Science Books of 2000; NCSS-CBC Notable Book, 2000; Deal with a Ghost, finalist, YA category, Edgar Award, 1998; It Can't Hurt Forever, Maud Hart Lovelace Award, 1983; The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 1983; Turtle in July, NCTE Notable, N.Y.Times Best Illustrated and Time Magazine Best Children's Books of 1989; Turtle in July was also a Reading Rainbow review book.

Marilyn currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband Steve; their standard poodle Oggi, a cousin of their beloved and recently departed poodle Easy, seen in the home page photo; a cat named August ; two collared doves named Jubilee and Holiday; and a starling named Darling. Her interests include dog training, reading, hiking, bird-watching, gardening, meditation, playing computer adventure games and going to the movies and the theatre. She's also a major Star Trek fan.

Reviews

[Kayla Yirdaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy this book for upper elementary students who are learning about geography or regions. The book describes and depicts places along the Mississippi River in each state. The photos are colorful and detailed. The text is brief but informative.

[Katy-Margaret Doss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review for Monday on the Mississippi by Marilyn Singer. This book is about the Mississippi River and they many towns that the river runs through. The book starts in Minnesota and ends in Louisiana where the river runs into the Gulf of Mexico. The book starts on a Monday and goes through Sunday and each day is a different stop in a different city that the river runs by. I enjoyed this book and the information that it provided. I found it really interesting because I am from Mississippi and liked that it mentioned places that I knew. This book would be good for upper elementary aged children but I think it would be difficult for a younger child to read. I loved the colors and detail of the illustrations and children would love the illustrations as well. I could use this book to target figurative language, literacy, and identifying colors.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was probably a good selection for a child a little older than a toddler, but it was fun to explore the journey of the Mississippi and comb the pages for things we could name. A perfect introduction to one of our most important waterways!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely book about some of the towns that border the Mississippi. Each town features a vignette. Each vignette was a poem, but not a sing-songy, rhymey poem. The poems ebbed and flowed like the Mighty Mississippi itself.

[Rebecca Waack]

This book is an adventure down the Mississippi river. It takes you through the days of the week, and through several stops down the river from the start of it in Minnesota, all the way to the mouth of the Mississippi river in LA.

[Tori Fullmer]

Picture book. This book takes us from the beginning to the end of the Mississippi in a creative way to explore the towns along the way. Great informative summary at the back of some of the history of the river.

[Kaylee Bauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of stories from different places on the Mississippi River. There are 2 stories for each day of the week "on the Mississippi." From Minnesota all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana, there are stories from different people telling about the Mississippi River from their perspective. They mention different landmarks such as a baseball game in St. Louis, and Mud Island in Memphis.

I think this book was a good concept. I don't think it would be great for young kids because it could come off as boring to them. The illustrations were not a wow factor but they were good for the story line. There are good facts in the book for students to learn more about the Mississippi River and where it runs. It could be great to use in a classroom if students are learning about the Mississippi River.