*2023 Good Housekeeping Best Kids Book Award Winner* *2023 Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year: Ecology* This richly illustrated concertina book takes the reader from the top of a mountain spring, through varying landscapes, and follows a river's journey from its source to the sea . With a focus on the important role waterways play in human and environmental survival, The River That Flows Beside Me explores the changing landscapes along a river's journey and the habits and ecosystems that call the river their home. A follow-up to The Street Beneath My Feet , The Skies Above My Eyes, and The Sea Below My Toes, this visually stunning book finds the river in the rocky peaks , and tracks it as it winds its way through coniferous forest , gushes through v-shaped valleys , and roars down magnificent waterfalls . Further downstream, readers will journey with the river past beaver dams, floodplains, oxbow lakes, paddle-boarders, bridges, and more. On your journey, meet the animals that call the river home , including: White-tailed deer Grizzly bears Otter Smallmouth bass Dragonflies With a primary focus on the river's ecosystems, wildlife, and geological processes The River That Flows Beside Me also explores the way that humans interact with the river landscape , using it both to survive and also to enjoy. The beauty and variety of river landscapes are bought to life by Jo Empson's rich illustrations. This book is part of the Look Closer series, a set of concertina books that help teach us about the mysteries and wonders that are found in the world around us.