Down to the Sea in Ships - Hardcover

Sturges, Philomen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399234640 ISBN 13: 9780399234644

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile, 2005

Synopsis

With wonder and humor, Sturges and Laroche celebrate the beauty of theamazing vessels that have sailed through time, down to the sea, including a canoe, Viking drakar, whaling boat, steamboats, schooners, cruise ship, sailboats and more.

Written like sea chanties perfect for reading aloud with breathtaking, intricately-cut paper illustrations, these pieces capture all the adventure of sea travel.

About this title

About the Author:

Philemon Sturges, an architect, is the author of Sacred Places, illustrated by Giles Laroche. He lives in Princeton, Massachusetts.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 3-9–A seamless collection of finely honed but telling histories of important ships in fully realized poems. The organization is masterful: the first selection invites readers to "Put a thing in a pail filled with water,/... If lighter, the thing will bob and float/And so you have the beginning of a boat." The poetic language, whether about a birch canoe, the Vikings' voyage, Magellan's lost ships and crew, or the tale of the New England cod schooners, takes on the vessel's life and rhythm on the water. Examples of assonance, consonance, iambic pentameter, and rich imagery fill each page. Most of the poems rhyme; a few offer internal and slant rhymes. All of them are elegant and offer children a range of emotions from a humorous cruise ship to the poignancy of the "tall schooners set afloat/One lonely man each to a tiny boat." Whether the water illustrated is nearly black and tipped with white caps, aquamarine, sapphire, or royal blue, the art explores the variety of sea and sky. Laroche's boats, made of cut paper and paint, appear to lift from the waves and float in their pictorial waters. This author and illustrator work wonders together. A school and public library must-have.–Teresa Pfeifer, Alfred Zanetti Montessori Magnet School, Springfield, MA
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About this edition

• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0399234640
• ISBN 13: 9780399234644
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Laroche Giles