Sal Boat
(A Boat by Sal)
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A boy builds a unique boat of his own with some help from his community in this new picture book written and illustrated by Thyra Heder, the critically acclaimed author of Alfie.
Sal loves the water. All day, he thinks about it: being out there, just him and the waves, alone. More than anything else, he wants a boat. And he knows just what it would look like. So he decides to build it himself.
It isn’t long before everyone in town starts sharing advice. But Sal doesn’t need their help. He knows just what he’s building. And he does it! Except . . . he forgets one crucial detail—that no project, big or small, can be launched without a little help.
From the acclaimed author-illustrator of Alfie and How Do You Dance? comes a clever and heartfelt tale about creativity, collaboration, and how you don’t always have to be alone to be free.
“Along with effectively capturing the setting’s small-town feel in her watercolors, Heder depicts a light-skinned protagonist whose changing facial expressions and body language offer a positive study as he goes from intense, scowling concentration to delight, dismay, then despair, resignation, and, bit by bit, anger . . . A literally buoyant reminder that sometimes it takes a village.” —Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Sal loved the water. He liked to imagine it moving under his feet." With junk from his mother's garage and pickings from local businesses, he starts building. In the family's harbor town, word spreads quickly, and soon the project is the recipient of advice and even jokes: "Looks like a sinker!" But Sal, who presents as white, doesn't take any guff. "This isn't a game," he says to other kids who overrun the worksite, "it's my BOAT." Heder (How Do You Dance?) works in watercolor and sculptural pencil, scrawling words of dialogue over the art and capturing the ramshackle charms of harbor life via piled-up lobster traps and other detritus. In a film-worthy climax, Sal runs into a potentially tragic difficulty, and the diverse community of people that teased him before rallies to his rescue. Heder zooms in on the expressions that cross Sal's face as he realizes his error: frustration, tearful despair, and resolve. Sal's creation is the kind of inventive structure that beckons readers who daydream about adventure, and the resourceful realization of his vision offers deep satisfaction. Ages 4–8.
