Tuesday Storytime: Sailing

Spring is a perfect season here for sailing.  We live near a large lake, and the warm days with fresh breezes (and pop-up storms) make for memorable times, and easy pickings for Storytime reads.

Three Bears in a Boat
David Soman
ISBN: 9780803739932
Three bear siblings head off on a sailing adventure to replace an accidentally broken treasure.

The storyline could be a little tighter, and the metaphorical storm vanishes a little too quickly for my tastes, but this story of siblings working together (and fighting) will strike a chord with lots of kids.  Our three bears break mom's beautiful blue shell, and immediately hatch a wild plan to find a replacement.  They sail away into adventure, before returning safe and sound to mom.  A lovely blended homage to the adventure of Where the Wild Things Are and the homey sweetness of Little Bear.


Sail Away 
Donald Crews
ISBN: 9780688110536
Short and onomatopoeic and evocative.

Crews is delightful when he's presenting a simple vibrant concept, and here is no exception.  Super-simple premise has a sailboat puttering out for a day's sail, encountering a storm (over almost as quickly as Soman's was) and puttering back in to moor safely in the harbor.  Graphically arresting, with words that become part of the illustrations, and just enough language to move the pictures along.

Boats Float
George Ella Lyon, illustrated by Mick Wiggins
ISBN: 9781481403801
By the author of Trucks Roll, and of Planes Fly.  Less of a storyline than in Trucks Roll.

The illustrations are busier here than in Trucks Roll - they actually remind me a little bit of the old Richard Scarry books.  The narrative is familiar; a rhyming cadence lists different types of boats, aspects of boats, or boat terminology, and always ends on "Boats Float" at the conclusion of each spread or section.  There is a funky mostly-sideways page that doesn't actually need to be turned sideways (a very winding river with the text following the path of the river) and it goes on just a smidge long for my tastes, but it's fun and cute and has really good vocabulary.