Sail Away, Little Boat (Carolrhoda Picture Books)
PreSchool-Grade 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, MACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.