What Is a River?

What is a river? It's water, the source of life. It's also a journey, visiting mountains, cities, and oceans. It's a home; it's shelter. It's energy, giving away its force to humans for power and industry. It's a meeting place; a memory; a place to wash, to find food, to dream; it's a word. Such is a river.

Born in Lithuania, Monika Vaicenavičiene graduated from the Konstfack Art School in Sweden. What Is a River? is her debut picture book. To make the book, she used a variety of materials, including pencils, watercolors, gouache, digital drawing; and a collection of geographical, historical, mythological references she has gathered as well as her own memories of growing up close to a river.