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Summary
Summary
Ahoy, mateys! Let's hop a ship and sail away! On a hot summer day, a wish transforms an urban backyard into a place of breezy high-seas adventure. As our bold Captain and Skipper ride the salty waves, they encounter a beastly sea monster, buried treasure, a scurvy pirate crew, lovely mermaids and more. The creative pair who brought you the acclaimed I Wished for a Unicorn offer up another celebration of the boundless distances a childhood wish can travel. With rich, spirited illustrations and sparkling rhymes that beg to be repeated, A Sea-Wishing Day is a spellbinding voyage into the imagination. Anchors aweigh! Ages 3-8
Author Notes
Robert Heidbreder is an award-winning children's poet and author. His many books include I Wished for a Unicorn, Eenie Meenie Manitoba and Drumheller Dinosaur Dance. Robert spent thirty years as a primary school teacher and, in 2002, won the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Kady MacDonald Denton has illustrated numerous children's titles, including Before I Go to Sleep, 'Til All the Stars Have Fallen and A Child's Treasury of Nursery Rhymes, which won the Governor General's Award. She lives in Peterborough, Ontario.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-"I wished so hard/To sail the sea/That the sea/Sailed right to me!" A boy and his dog, Skipper, take off from their small urban backyard into an ocean full of adventure, complete with a ship. Together they encounter enormous waves, a foul-smelling beast with nine heads, mermaids, and an island of crocodiles, pirates, and buried treasure. The rhyming text gives the boy's account of their fast-paced voyage and eventual getaway. Finally, they land safely back home where the sea morphs back into a small wading pool. The warm gouache illustrations full of soft lines and sharp humor really bring this book to life. On the final spread, the child winds down with an evening bubble bath, but readers will know that he and Skipper are already planning their next high-seas escapade. For young children wishing for adventure, this book celebrates the art of pretend.-Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
With a little imagination, a boy and his dog, Skipper, turn a backyard wading pool into the high seas--thanks to Denton's transformative powers--and embark on a series of adventures. They sail on a magnificent clipper ship and encounter a nine-headed "foul-smelling beast/ With mean teethy mouths,/ Ready to feast." They find buried treasure on a tropical isle and give some pirates (as well as some admiring mermaids) the slip by hopping aboard a porpoise. Heidbreder's (I Wished for a Unicorn) rhymes tend to thud more than soar ("Ahoy!/ A ship came billowing by./ Aboard we sprang,/ Skipper and I"), but Denton is in fine, freewheeling form. She takes the rhyme "I wished so hard/ To sail the sea/ That the sea/ Sailed right to me!" as a launch point, and the boy's wading pool metamorphoses as a slowly encroaching wave sweeps the initially dubious, then delighted, young fellow and his dog off their feet. The subsequent pages glow with iridescent color and wry details, and the hero has an appealing Sendak-like impishness. Ages 3-8. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
A boy in his backyard wishes ""so hard / To sail the sea / That the sea / Sailed right to me!"" He and his dog set off, running into rogue waves, pirates, mermaids, and other exotic creatures. The lilting, rhythmic text is reminiscent of lyric ballads, while watery gouache illustrations conjure up the magic of an ocean adventure. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
The girl and her dog featured in I Wished for a Unicorn (2000) return for another flight of imagination. Wishing to sail the sea, the dauntless duo find an ocean swelling up in their backyard. Their ensuing shipboard adventures involve a sea monster, a crocodile, a buried treasure, a crew of pirates, and a helpful dolphin. The rhyming verses use plain words in the story's realistic beginning and ending and high-blown nautical language, some of it quite inventive, in its more imaginative center. Adults reading aloud may find themselves stuttering a bit through passages such as When up surged nine heads / Of a foul-smelling beast / With mean teethy mouths, / Ready to feast. The key is to read slowly, allowing children plenty of time to absorb the unspoken narrative and entertaining details in Denton's equally inventive, always appealing paintings. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2007 Booklist
