The Rands do a merry job of painting a family’s life at sea on a four-masted sailing bark during the end of the 19th century. They take as their inspiration the true life of the Madsen family on their ocean-faring vessel the John Ena. Ted Rand’s atmospheric watercolors manage to make the colossal ship quite cozy, and Gloria Rand employs the cheery voice of the captain’s youngest daughter to explain the layout of the bark and how they spent their time aboard. Young readers will marvel at the menagerie the children are in charge of, including a kangaroo, a monkey, more yeomanly creatures like ducks and chickens, and an unfortunate pig that falls in the tar being used to patch the deck and gets a burial at sea. They may be less enthralled to learn that a governess taught the children lessons six days a week, mornings and afternoons, “with only an hour off for lunch and no recesses”; the son of the captain plays hooky and gets his ear twisted for his trouble. But climbing in the rigging, playing on the deck, and arriving at the exotic ports of call bestow upon the life many of the qualities of an idyll. Then a brutal Christmas storm puts the precariousness back in the life of the family balancing keeping it all real. All ends happily and an afterword describing the source of the story adds the necessary authenticity. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7358-1539-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2001
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
At her best, Rylant’s (The Ticky-Tacky Doll, below, etc.) sweetness and sentiment fills the heart; in this outing, however, sentimentality reigns and the end result is pretty gooey. Pandora keeps a lighthouse: her destiny is to protect ships at sea. She’s lonely, but loves her work. She rescues Seabold and heals his broken leg, and he stays on to mend his shipwrecked boat. This wouldn’t be so bad but Pandora’s a cat and Seabold a dog, although they are anthropomorphized to the max. Then the duo rescue three siblings—mice!—and make a family together, although Rylant is careful to note that Pandora and Seabold each have their own room. Choosing what you love, caring for others, making a family out of love, it is all very well, but this capsizes into silliness. Formatted to look like the start of a new series. Oh, dear. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-84880-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2002
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
