HOPE AT SEA

A youngster stows away aboard a clipper ship.

Narrator Hope, whose father is the carpenter onboard a newly built clipper ship, longs to go to sea, so the child trades dress for trousers and stows away aboard the ship just before it sets sail. Hope’s father discovers his errant offspring in a lifeboat on deck, and, in an accomplished wordless time-progression sequence, readers see that at first the father is angry, then he gives Hope a hug, accepting the child aboard. Hope learns the ropes—literally—and sees new things as the ship picks up its cargo in different countries. But when almost home, the ship encounters a storm and breaks up on the rocks. The crew, including Hope, abandons ship, and all seems lost. But a wall of lights on shore—revealed to be wives and children holding lanterns—guides the lifeboats to safety, and Hope’s father realizes that the wrecked ship has one more contribution to make. This adroitly told and illustrated story has a clever surprise twist ending, while its illustrations combine a historical-looking style with accurate historic details. Skillful design decisions use double-page spreads to show the breadth of the ship’s deck or the expanse of the ocean, while smaller spot illustrations are used to vignette important action that isn’t described in the text. The crew includes members of color; Hope and father are illustrated as White.(This book was reviewed digitally.)

A skillfully presented tale of the sea and beyond.