A Bright and colourful nautical story. ‘Big Blue Boat’ by Susea Spray and Illustrated by Lesley Cybulka is a simple story of a boat and its captain, heading out to sea, then finding a bay to rest in in the evening. The story starts off simple with “A boat” then builds, with each page, showing the towering mast, the billowing sails, the twirling wheel and the Captain that is “as brave as brave can be”.
As the story picks up, so does the wind and the vibrant images depict the intrepid captain sailing some very choppy seas before the images and the text calm down again and a place to stop and sleep is found. The images of the boat and the sea and the landscape throughout are lovely. However I think that the close-up images of the captain are a little uncanny.
She looks rather like a porcelain doll, lacking dimension and nose, and she isn’t always in proportion. Throughout the text some words are in a bold and coloured font for emphasis. I personally would have considered using this emphasis to highlight the nouns each time (so emphasising Boat not Blue), and maintained some consistency on which type of words were emphasised throughout.
I think younger readers will enjoy the repetition of this story and looking at all the pictures. It could also be beneficial for young readers who are looking to build sentences, with the structure of the story at the beginning becoming gradually more complex. This is a great book for showing that girls can dream big, be strong and sail boats and go on solo adventures.
The glossary at the end helps readers learn and remember the different parts of the boat and what they’re used for.
Charlotte Walker, A LoveReading4Kids Ambassador
Seas are calm and winds gently blow as the Big Blue Boat and her Captain set sail. With the passing of the hours, winds strengthen and seas build, becoming increasingly livelier. The reader is kept on the edge of their seat in this cumulative tale that tells a story.
| Primary Genre | Indie Author Books |
Seas are calm and winds gently blow as the Big Blue Boat and her Captain set sail. With the passing of the hours, winds strengthen and seas build, becoming increasingly livelier.
A Big Blue Boat features in the following genres: Indie Author Books , Recommendations
Hardback. Not Available.
A Big Blue Boat was written by Susea Spray and published by Spray Publications