Little Rivers: A Book of Essays in Profitable Idleness - Tapa blanda

The classic of the woods and streams, American essayist Hamilton Wright Mabie wrote: "It is a volume of peculiar charm, full of life, sentiment, hope, health, and beauty. For Dr. Van Dyke has both the heart and the touch of an artist; he feels instinctively the charm of the world of woods and waters; he has a loving companionship with all sound human living, and he has the magic of style. 'Little Rivers' is not only 'a book of essays in profitable idleness,' it is also a book of literature. It has the freshness, the felicity, the ease and frankness of first-hand work Its ways are by little and great streams, in near and remote quarters; but its charm lies in its intelligent observation, in its quiet humor, in its mood of fruitful idleness, and in its constant and tender reverence for human character and vicissitude."

"As fresh and fragrant as the wood-flower; as clear and pure as the mountain spring; as musical as the singing stream, dimpling in the sun, is Henry Van Dyke's 'Little Rivers.' So exquisitely written a book is rare indeed. The delicacy of the style, the radiance of the rhetoric, and the loveliness and truth of the nature in 'Little Rivers' are a delight to the mind and a solace to the spirit. One feels the drowsiness of the noon-day and the restfulness of the meadow, as the warm light filters through the shifting leaves; one hears the soft, rippling plash of the gentle stream, making its way through verdant fields, and the swift whirr of the bird on the wing. The friendship of nature is keenly felt and understood by Henry Van Dyke; he knows his rivers and his glens, and, what is better, he has the divine quality of transporting his readers to the breezy heights and mossy dells the treads. Smooth and dainty is his narrative; light and frolicsome are his deviations; convincing is his philosophy, and so high his ideals that they seem to touch the arch of Heaven; yet so human is the man through all this imagery that his warm heartbeats pulsate through every line. No more need any one lament the lost art of the essayist. Here is as rare and fine an essayist as time could give; each separate chapter, complete in itself, is a polished gem, and strung together on a golden thread they make a chain worth telling over and over again." -The Peterson Magazine

"Angling literature owes to clergymen some of its best known works....Dr. Van Dyke has well upheld the high reputation of the cloth in 'Little Rivers,' which is a series of angling sketches on a more serious background, worked into a combination so simple and charming, and so full of the spirit of pastoral and woodland scenes, as to make it sure to become a classic on its subject....Each chapter shows a knowledge and study of the details of nature which could not exist were not Dr. Van Dyke a true and sympathetic lover of the woods and waters he so well describes. As its title indicates, the volume treats of the various rivers visited and fished by its author in this country and in Canada, with three chapters from his transatlantic experiences. When all are so good it is hard to make a choice, but perhaps the introductory essay, 'Little Rivers,' and 'At The Sign of the Balsam Bough' show most plainly the range of Dr. Van Dyke's powers as revealed in this publication....Substantially perfect." -The Nation

"Adjust your brightest lamp and your easiest chair for an hour of pure refreshment with Henry Van Dyke." -Record Herald

"Dr. Van Dyke's charm of expression lies in a subtle commingling of the matter-of-fact with the poetic." -Washington Star

"One of the most charming companions to be found in contemporary literature." -Brooklyn Eagle

"The idleness was indeed profitable which has provided such a store of restful pleasure and amusement for those who follow the author through these delightful pages in his summer wanderings." -New York Observer