My son has really become interested in vehicles so I thought that this book about a boat would be a good new addition for him. Sail Away is an interesting book written and illustrated by Donald Crews. It was published in 1995. I purchased it after thumbing through it as I thought the illustrations were captivating.
The Story
The story is very simple. It starts with a family who decides to go sailing on a beautiful day. This book tells the story about going out for a sail in a boat. It breaks down the parts of sailing a boat from rowing to an anchored sailboat to putting out of the main harbor. Then, the sails go up and the boat goes sailing off.
When the skies turn cloudy and then stormy, the sails come down and the family starts for home. The sailboat heads back the same way it came. Just after sun down, the boat is finally moored!
Text and Illustrations
The text in this book is quite short. There are only 4 to 12 words per page. There are 32 pages in this book but nonetheless, it is a fast read. This story is all told in a narrative form. There is no conversation and there is no rhymes. The story does repeat itself backwards as the family heads back home after sailing all day.
The illustrations are beautiful water color paintings. There is a good amount of detail that is really interesting to look at. Although the people’s faces are not done with details, the trestles on the bridge are very detailed. The lighthouse on the hill is well detailed. The things that are being emphasized in the text are most detailed. The illustrations are done in many blues and when the storm hits, there are a lot of grays.
My Thoughts
I enjoyed reading this book mostly because I enjoyed the illustrations. It was most interesting to me to see the details and the interesting things like the bridge and the lighthouse. I thought it was really neat when they put the sails up on the sailboat.
My son likes this book too. While it is not one he will pick out on his own, he will listen carefully when I read this to him. He really likes the storm clouds for some reason. He also likes the part when the sails first go up. He likes to make the sound of the wind as it is going through the sails, “whoooooo.”
I think that this is a good book for very young children particularly because of the short text and gorgeous illustrations. The illustrations kept my son most interested and he was able to sit and listen to the story because it was quite short. I like that this book describes the steps in sailing a boat and although my son may not totally understand all of it now, it is something that with many readings and repetitions (which he loves to do), he will begin to understand. Meanwhile, he can point to different parts of the sailboat and is interested in the fact that there are boats (he has never seen one in person). I can’t wait until this summer when we can go to the harbor and look at some of the real boats in person. I am sure that will help this story have even more meaning to him.
Recommendations
I would recommend this book for toddlers and for preschoolers. It is a good book for toddlers because they like the illustrations and can sit for the short text. It is good for preschoolers because they can begin to understand the different steps of sailing a boat. It is a fun book to read aloud and it is gorgeous to look at the illustrations!
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