Irene Haas

Margaret Barnstable goes to bed one night wishing for a sailing ship, and a day of adventure to be shared with nice company, and wakes up the next morning to find herself on board the Maggie B - a boat with a nice snug cabin, and a farm on the poop deck - together with her baby brother James. A day of calm pleasure follows, as Maggie cares for her brother, prepares their meal - a process involving everything from fishing to cooking - and weathers a storm inside their cozy cabin...

Like the show more friend who recommended it (thanks, Miriam!), I'm a little hard-pressed to say just why I find The Maggie B so appealing, although appealing it certainly is! The narrative isn't particularly exciting, and I have difficulty imagining that, with a magical ship at my disposal, I'd want to spend the day cooking and child-minding (color me un-domestic, but what about exploring?), but the gentle unfolding of Maggie's day still appealed to me, for all that. I suspect that Haas' delightful illustrations, which alternate between black-and-white and glorious color, have something to do with it... show less

The more I reflect on this, the more I like it. Sure, it's a trip. And no, I don't think I ever had that kind of an imagination. But some kids do.... It may not be 'real' but it's certainly 'true.' And the pictures are adorable.

Such a retro, nostalgic book. Even the size is special, as it's small enough for little hands to hold all by themselves while they lose themselves in the details. Haven't you ever wondered what migrating birds pack for the trip?

Self-indulgently oversize, to no good effect as the pictures still have too much chaos and detail to be able to appreciate. Chaotic and vague text, too. The theme of connecting grandma and grandchild over a lost doll seemed trite & cliched. I think there's something good in there, but danged if I can find it.

I liked the flights of fancy in this story - that a little girl's dream is to have a day on a boat with some good company and then she gets it (very vaguely implied as she dreams that night) and it's a boat that has a toucan and garden on it. It was nice to see that her younger brother was the good company - so often younger siblings are depicted as annoying or to be avoided. The little girl is self-sufficient taking care of the cleaning, boating, cooking, and child-care. The songs and show more rhymes included made me want to know the tunes so I could sing them myself and imagine how that counting rhyme could work in baby storytime. The only thing that dates the book really is that alternating spreads are in black and white (I assume this was a cost-saving measure as opposed to deliberate artistic choice given that they all seem to be done in the same watercolor medium). Overall, I'm definitely glad I looked this one up - looks great for ages about 4-7ish. show less