The Old Boat

January 11, 2021
This tale from the Pumphrey brothers (The Old Truck) excels at showing rather than telling. Tight, vivid prose by Jarrett Pumphrey telegraphs the story’s essence, while spreads by Jerome Pumphrey show outings shared by two brown-skinned figures—one young, one old—who together take a green fishing skiff out to open sea. As the pages turn, “the old boat caught wants// and wishes,// waves// and wonders,” the child and the adult mature, and the waters fill with garbage—“First shallow.// Then deep.” One fateful day, the child, now grown, takes the craft out alone and is overtaken by a storm, the boat sinking just offshore alongside plastic bags, tires, milk crates, and more. Carried back to the beach, the pilot sees that honoring intergenerational memories requires work close to home. Helpers fill garbage bags, and swimmers with nets clean farther out. Soon, fish return to the shallows, sea plants grow, and the sunken boat hosts life. The artwork’s sun-bleached shapes have immediate visual impact, and the story conveys the idea of change, both damage and restoration, occurring on a relatively brief human scale. Ages 6–8. Agent (for author and illustrator): Hannah Mann, Writers House.

January 15, 2021
A multigenerational tale of a boat's life with a Black family, written by two brothers who loved similar boats. In the opening spread, a smiling, brown-skinned adult dangles a line from the back of a green-and-white boat while a boy peers eagerly over the side at the sea life. The text never describes years passing, but each page turn reveals the boy's aging, more urban development on the shore, increasing water pollution, marine-life changes (sea jellies abound on one page), and shifting water levels. Eventually, the boy, now a teenager, steers the boat, and as an adult, he fishes alone but must go farther and farther out to sea to make his catch. One day, the man loses his way, capsizes in a storm, and washes up on a small bay island, with the overturned, sunken boat just offshore. Now a "new sailor" cleans up the land and water with others' help. The physical similarities between the shipwrecked sailor and the "new sailor" suggest that this is not a new person but one whose near-death experience has led to an epiphany that changes his relationship to water. As the decaying boat becomes a new marine habitat, the sailor teaches the next generation (a child with hair in two Afro puffs) to fish. Focusing primarily on the sea, the book's earth-toned illustrations, created with hundreds of stamps, carry the compelling plot. A quiet, thought-provoking story of environmental change and the power humans have to slow it. (Picture book. 4-7)

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February 15, 2021
Preschool-Kindergarten It's an old boat--but a good boat--and it carries a boy and, presumably, his grandparent on many productive trips together. The text says they catch "wants / and wishes, / waves / and wonders," signaling that more is happening than simply fishing. The words and images operate on multiple levels, with the illustrations demonstrating the passage of time through the steady aging of the characters, page by page. Eventually the boy, now a man, is on the boat alone and lost, until he capsizes near a small island. Here he finds new direction, purpose, and a family. Similar to the Pumphreys' The Old Truck (2020), stamped images are digitally composed to create illustrations that are intricately designed but also simple and approachable. The sunny color palette assures readers that, even at sad points, the man will find his way. An awareness of environmental concerns runs through the visual narrative, foreshadowing a reassuring conclusion. This sensitive message about growth and connection is perfectly pitched to resonate with readers young, old, and journeying between.

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