Thomas Docherty (1)

A young boy, all dressed up for the beach - with goggles and snorkel, bucket and shovel, flippers, and big yellow inner-tube all at the ready - stares out the window at the pouring rain. Some would be discouraged, but the boy knows that all he needs, in order to get to a sunny beach, is the right transportation. And so begins a fantastic journey of the imagination, as the boy finds himself taking a rather circuitous route to his destination...

A delightful summertime picture-book for the show more very young child, Thomas Docherty's To the Beach was originally published in the UK in 2007, and only released here in the United States this past April. With a simple narrative that keeps the action moving forward, and whimsical watercolor illustrations that emphasize the exuberant fun of the story, this is sure to be a hit with young beach-goers everywhere! show less

Venturing out onto the vast ocean, an independent little boat sails on through stormy seas, past monsters of the deep, through treacherous rocks, until it finally finds its friends. Then the fun really begins...

With the same simple text and exuberant watercolor illustrations that made To the Beach such a joy, Thomas Docherty's Little Boat is sure to captivate young sea-lovers with a yen for adventure. An ever-changing perspective - sometimes we see the little boat from above, sometimes from show more the side - keeps the reader excited and involved. show less

The small tugboat in this story is just a speck in the big ocean. The little boat may encounter dangerous obstacles, terrible thunderstorms, and enormous sea monsters, but it continues on bravely searching for its sea creature friends. Nothing banishes the unknown and scary elements like a group of good friends. They playfully race around the ocean and never want to stop. In the company of friends, no ocean is too big for this little boat.

The story isn’t particularly complex and the text show more reads more like a life philosophy than a narrative. Docherty’s text is extremely concise and simple, with just a few well-chosen words per page. The illustrations are really the star of the book. Gender neutral little boat is an endearing protagonist, with a small puffing smoke stack and large, expressive eyes. The boat's friends, a school of fish, some porpoises, an octopus, and a large whale, are full of playful joy. The ocean seems to be a character of its own and Docherty deftly captures the many moods of the water, from lapping, clear blue waves to churning stormy water to the dark blue of the depths of the ocean.

Full Review at Picture-Book-a-Day: http://picturebookaday.blogspot.com/2012/08/book-221-little-boat-by-thomas-doche... show less

I did not enjoy anything in particular about this book because it seemed like an average picture book. There was nothing that made it stand out to me or be unique from the rest. I had mixed feelings about this book because I enjoyed the fact that it included animals and monsters, which interests most of the younger grades. I also liked that they had a separate page for the word “Boo!” and really made that page show the scared emotion. I think the children would enjoy shouting out show more “Boo!” and really adding their excitement and voice to that word as they read. I did not like that the book had few words to it and did not really get into the plot or setting. It was a quick read and left me hoping for me by the time I had finished the book. I did not find anything descriptive or engaging to help keep the interest of the children. I want my students to sincerely find interest in a book and explore exceptional picture books that make them think and this one seemed too plain for my classroom. I think my students would read this then move onto the next one without even thinking twice about it. However, I did like the big idea that the book portrayed even though I had to read it twice to really get what I thought the message was. I think that the big idea is that when the monster was on top of the mountain, he felt big so he had no problem scaring all his friends when he thought they were smaller than him. Then, when he got to the bottom of the mountain and realized he was actually smaller than them, he was the one being scared and didn’t like that feeling. This teaches the lesson about putting yourselves in someone else’s shoes and seeing their point of view. Also, it teaches that you shouldn’t do to others what you wouldn’t like done to yourself because the monster loved scaring his friends, but hated when his friend’s scared him. show less