TOY BOAT

A boy’s toy sailboat slips away for an aquatic adventure to return worn and wiser. After constructing a toy boat from a can, a cork, a pencil and some cloth, a little boy takes it everywhere with him. Everyday, the boy sails his boat on the lake, holding it by a string. The toy watches the big boats out on the lake, wondering how it would feel to sail free. One blustery afternoon, the boy drops the string and the wind carries the boat out into deep water. Pushed around and nearly swamped by a tugboat, a ferry, a speedboat and a fleet of racing sailboats, the toy boat spends the night drifting “alone and scared,” missing the boy. But the next day, the toy boat catches a breeze from a friendly fishing boat and ends its adventure miraculously back with the boy. Long’s crisp acrylic illustrations in bright nautical blues, whites and reds capture the drama of the diminutive toy in the wake of the big boats as well as the exhilaration of its triumphant return. A must for little sailors. (Picture book. 2-6)