Boats Will Float

PreS-Gr 2--Rosenbaum's jaunty rhyming text describes the seafaring activities of many types of boats throughout the day. "Early morning, rise and shine, Fishing boats with nets and line. Underneath a cloudless sky, Dragon boats go flying by." The waterways are filled with tankers, trawlers, and schooners. The action is swimmingly captured with poetic phrases such as, "Boats will float into the ocean, rise and fall in liquid motion." Colorful scenes offer views from above and below sea level, including a fireboat attending to an emergency and a submarine with sailors waving from portholes as they pass by a striped octopus. There are lots of clever details to pore over in Curzon's cartoon illustrations, from a reenactment of the famous Titanic scene at the bow of a large cruise ship, to a secret message that can be decoded using the accompanying nautical flag alphabet. Back matter features a picture glossary of the boats mentioned in the story. VERDICT A shipshape offering sure to appeal to young boating enthusiasts.--Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ont.