Sail Away, Little Boat

March 6, 2006
In a lush green forest, a boy and girl launch a toy sailboat in a rushing brook and wish it bon voyage: "Sail away, Little Boat,/ to search for new friends./ Just follow the brook./ till it reaches its end." As the boat travels through ecosystems and ever-deepening water (the water's color changes from brown to green to blue), it catches the attention of an array of animals, including a goggle-eye dragonfly and a "slicky-back" otter (the latter temporarily adopts the boat as a plaything). Finally, the boat's "long, daring journey" ends at "the cool oceanside," where a group of beachcombing children pluck it from shallow waters. Despite the alliterative language, Buell's text at times seems overwrought ("Past a long-legged heron/ that pokes with its beak./ Past sun-speckled fish/ flashing by at its feet"), but Ishida's (Yummy Chocolate Bunny
) voluptuous, dynamic full-bleed illustrations more than compensate. The artist's dense, smudged colors and cheery, streamlined characterizations may bring to mind classic Golden Books, while her strongly horizontal compositions feel bracing and bold—every spread conveys the energy of the water coursing inexorably through the landscape. Ages 5-7.

April 1, 2006
PreS-Gr 3 -A red toy boat that sports a yellow stripe on its sail travels from brook, to river, to the ocean. Arriving at the seashore, it is quickly embraced by three children. The back page has a visual epigraph: the little boat floats in a luxurious bubble bath with its new, yellow rubber-ducky friend. Ishida's brilliantly colored spreads, done in mixed media, cast a swirling, whirling spell of balanced design. Working together in perfect pace, both text and illustration explore the natural world with circular lines and round, playful shapes that convey the toy boat's passage among deer, whirligig beetles, -Past silver-swift minnows/that scatter and school, - onward to the river where -lickety-split/the sleek otters slide. - Delightful sounds, rich language, imagery, and buoyant verse characterize the writing. The book supports standards in science, art, and the language arts while providing children with an artistically rich visual and aural experience. A first choice." -Teresa Pfeifer, Alfred Zanetti Montessori Magnet School, Springfield, MA"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.