Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
A Sea-Wishing Day
Illustrator: Kady MacDonald Denton
Picture Book
For ages 4 to 6
Kids Can Press, 2007 ISBN: 978-1553377078
One hot day a little boy and his dog Skipper are playing in their back yard. The little boy wishes so hard for a sea to sail on that it seems to miraculously appear. Clearly they are going to need a ship to go adventuring in and it just so happens that one comes along just at the right time. Soon the boy and Skipper are happily settled on their vessel scanning the horizon and having the time of their lives.
They are sailing along when a “foul-smelling” nine headed monster arrives on the scene. In an effort to avoid being eaten up Skipper and his boy run the ship aground on a tropical island. Soon the two friends are exploring and lo and behold, they find a treasure chest full of gold and jewels.
Of course where there is treasure, pirates are never far off and soon the boy and Skipper are running for their lives from a pack of these rascally vagabonds of the high seas.
Children who enjoy imaging that they are having adventures in far off places will have no difficulty identifying with this boy who is able to turn a game in a paddle pool in a back yard into a rollicking adventure on the wide ocean. Pirates, mermaids, monsters, and other wonders flow from the little boy’s imagination with ease, splashing and tumbling across the pages with abandon, and complimenting the lively rhyming text perfectly. The author rounds up the story by gently reminding his readers that one’s wishes are never far away when you use your imagination to summon them up, and great fun can be had when you do so.
