ALA Booklist (Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2003)

Anderson has done a fine job of shaping Sam Clemens/Mark Twain's long and extraordinary life into a coherent narrative for young children. The Mississippi River in Hannibal, Missouri, defined much of the boy's early life--a place to explore, play, and dream. He left school at 12, when his father died, learned about printing, then steamboat piloting, then lit out for gold in Nevada Territory, along the way honing his talent for storytelling. Anderson slips in a few vignettes, such as the time young Sam had to whitewash the fence, which alert readers will note found their way into Twain's other books. Andreasen's burnished paintings capture the gold of imagination and memory, broad vistas of sky and land, architectural details that create a setting (the wheel of a riverboat, the edge of a family porch), and bright-eyed, apple-cheeked figures. A chronology on the end paper hints at the sadness of Twain's later years.

Horn Book (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2004)

Thompson describes what Mouse finds when he rides to school in a backpack: "Squiggle, scribble, dot crayons! / Ssip, slurp, crunch snacks!" and children, of course--"Wiggly, giggly, best of all friends!" Illustrations in glowing colors provide appealing close-ups of Mouse and his discoveries; the toe of a sneaker, for example, takes up most of one page.

Kirkus Reviews

Anderson, best known for his studies of Laura Ingalls Wilder, introduces another American original with this anecdotal profile. Though the author covers Clemens's entire life, from curly-haired youth watching Mississippi steamboats dock to white-suited, cigar-smoking pundit, he focuses most closely on Clemens's childhood—particularly on incidents that later appeared in his novels, such as the famous whitewashing caper—and on his spectacular public career as writer, yarn-spinner, and celebrity. Capped by an atmospheric final scene of Halley's Comet glowing in the sky over a twilight river, Andreasen's ( Love Song for a Baby , 2002, etc.) polished, golden-toned historical tableaus give Clemens's life an idyllic air it certainly lacked in its later stages, but the warmth they add will effectively draw readers into the great humorist's world. Still, next to Kathryn Lasky's A Brilliant Streak: The Making of Mark Twain , illustrated by Barry Moser (1998), the art and writing both come off as bland fare, competent but ordinary. (chronology) (Picture book/biography. 7-9)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Anderson and Andreasen (previously paired for <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Pioneer Girl) spotlight Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, in this attractive but ultimately disappointing picture book. The author describes Sam's boyhood, spent along the banks of the Mississippi River, through his stints as a printer and steamboat pilot, gold miner and newspaper reporter to his successful career as a novelist and lecturer. However, he presumes a prior acquaintance with Twain's work. For example, he reports that young Sam was punished once by being made to whitewash a fence but tricked his friends into doing the work; yet Anderson never spells out the connection with <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Tom Sawyer. The prose slips occasionally into cliché ("The hiss of the steam and the call of the whistle on the Mississippi River tugged at Sam's heart"). Twain's witticisms are quoted only once or twice, and his voice stays muted. Andreasen's paintings help transcend the shortcomings of the text. He conjures a Rockwellian era of barefoot boys in straw hats and suspenders, and evokes the romance of the Mississippi in evocative endpapers that show a steamboat chugging up an inky blue river. Ages 7-10. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Mar.)

School Library Journal (Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2003)

Gr 3-5 This engaging, anecdotal biography will acquaint readers with some of Clemens's own boyish exploits, which eventually became memorable moments in the lives of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Clemens is portrayed as an adventuresome, fun-loving person who, from an early age, became an expert at exploring new venues, and who became a great writer and humorist despite the fact that his formal education ended at age 12. The people in Andreasen's illustrations have the same round-cheeked, homespun look as those found in Norman Rockwell's paintings. The pictures have a softness that suggests an earlier time, and many of them have an appealing luminescent quality. A chronology on the endpapers lists key events in Clemens's life. For a younger audience than Kathryn Lasky's equally well-written A Brilliant Streak: The Making of Mark Twain (Harcourt, 1998), River Boy has only one flaw: the lack of source notes or bibliography to substantiate the anecdotal information. Otherwise, it is a perfect introductory biography that will appeal to both children and teachers. Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH