Does Anyone Know Any Good Children's Sailing Books ?

[Richard Jordan]

Originally Posted by Drifter33

Scuppers the Sailing Dog is actually the book that made me start this thread. Very young kids may enjoy it, but I found it to be written poorly and to be too repetitive. The saying 'don't judge a book by its cover' was true in this case.

How dare you criticize Scuppers! Can you sail over a whale in a gale? I don't think so.

[Cormorant]

Originally Posted by Richard Jordan

How dare you criticize Scuppers! Can you sail over a whale in a gale? I don't think so.

Indeed -- this is blasphemy of the worst sort! Who can forget Scuppers' repair job to fix the hole in his boat? (Several dozen crazy criss-crossed planks.)

[Jim Cate]

G'Day again,

One of the reasons that I advocated the Swallows and Amazons series (above post) was their association with reality on the water. The sailing parts of the adventures are technically accurate, and there is no silly Disneyation of the participants or the challenges that they meet.

For me, this is one hell of a lot better for kids to be exposed to than "sailing over a whale in a gale". I still remember how much I enjoyed those books as a youngster, and I know that part of the enjoyment was that I could believe in the things that happened.

Cheers,

Jim

[Drifter33]

Originally Posted by Richard Jordan

How dare you criticize Scuppers! Can you sail over a whale in a gale? I don't think so.

I stand corrected. Scuppers is an excellent sailor who is well organzed. He has a hook for everything!

[Richard Jordan]

Originally Posted by Drifter33

I stand corrected. Scuppers is an excellent sailor who is well organzed. He has a hook for everything!

Damn right.

[DazeAtSea]

Jimmy Buffet's Jolly Mon was always fun when I was a kid.

[schoonerdog]

I have a ton of suggestions so I will refer you to my list... better organized over there...
Zach Aboard Favorites - Nautical Book Nook

I am not trying to make a dime (the literal amount you get) with this link, just an easy fast way to share our favorite books.

The Lighthouse Family series by Cynthis Rylant is especially sweet and very appropriate for a 5 year old. Happy reading!

[Elysium]

5 years old might be a little on the old side for the first book in my list, but my 3 and 4 year old boys really like these ones:

Toy Boat, by Randall Seve and Long Lorren
Lost and Found, by Oliver Jeffers
Captain Teachum's Buried Treasure, by Peter Carter and Korky Paul
Jolly Roger and the Pirates of Captain Abdul, by Colin McNaughton

The Usborne 1001 Pirate Things to Spot, by Rob Lloyd Jones is also fun

and if this one doesn't make you cry - NOTHIN' WILL:
Grandpa's Boat, by Michael Catchpool and Sophy Williams

My personal favourites are Toy Boat and Lost and Found. In fact, Lost and Found has been made into an absolutely beautiful short video!! Not sure if it is available in North America, but it was so good I ordered it from the UK and converted it to NTSC for my computer!

Then of course, for the kids who are a little older there is the classic Tintin pair: Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure

Cheers and happy reading!!

[P Valdeolmillos]

Probably this is too advanced for a 5 year old, but "Seabird" by Holling Clancy Holling (Amazon.com: Seabird (9780395266816): Holling C. Holling: Books) is an amazing book, with a wonderful text and illustrations.

(I have a 5 year old myself and I'm waiting for her to grow up to go through those wonderful pages together :-)

- Pedro

[Svanen]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

One of the reasons that I advocated the Swallows and Amazons series (above post) was their association with reality on the water. The sailing parts of the adventures are technically accurate, and there is no silly Disneyation of the participants or the challenges that they meet.

For me, this is one hell of a lot better for kids to be exposed to than "sailing over a whale in a gale". I still remember how much I enjoyed those books as a youngster, and I know that part of the enjoyment was that I could believe in the things that happened.

+1.

Another nice thing about the S&A series is that it features characters of both genders. Indeed, Nancy is the true leader of the whole crew, and Titty is always excellent value too. Pretty remarkable, when you consider that the books were written ~80 years ago.

[erjolley]

Originally Posted by Drifter33

I always keep my eyes open for children's books about sailing. My daughter is now 5 and an avid reader, but I can never find many sailing books. Does anyone have any reccomendations? The few we have on sailing she enjoys reading and I would like to find more.

Thanks,
Nick

Nick--Just seeing this now, so your daughter is older, but might enjoy a great series of books by Arthur Ransome. These are older books, but easy to find on Amazon.com if not in your local library. The firs books and the easiest is "Swallows and Amazons". If she's too young to read them herself, you would probably enjoy reading them aloud--they are great books for all ages!

[Hard Rock Candy]

I didn't read all the letters in this thread, but I think that the best person to write a childrens book on sailing might be a sailing child, with a little help from mom or dad. ---My only experience with children has been the 5 I raised, and 17 grandchildren That I escaped from. Mac

[blinkerfluid]

Since this is a thread about sailing books for kids, I was wondering if someone could help me identify a book I read (but never finished, which is why I want to find it again) when I was a kid.

From my rather poor memory, The book is about a young boy who sees a small sailboat at a local store. He spends the summer working to save up for the boat and eventually buys it and begins his sailing dreams. While out one day a tidal wave washes ashore and carries him and his friends inland to a mountain lake (I think). From there the group of friends begins the journey back to their homes, but that's all I can remember of the book.

I figured it'd be a long shot, but maybe someone knows what book I'm thinking of.

[partyof5]

Since this is a thread about sailing books for kids, I was wondering if someone could help me identify a book I read (but never finished, which is why I want to find it again) when I was a kid.

From my rather poor memory, The book is about a young boy who sees a small sailboat at a local store. He spends the summer working to save up for the boat and eventually buys it and begins his sailing dreams. While out one day a tidal wave washes ashore and carries him and his friends inland to a mountain lake (I think). From there the group of friends begins the journey back to their homes, but that's all I can remember of the book.

I figured it'd be a long shot, but maybe someone knows what book I'm thinking of.


Try "windcatcher" by Avi????

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[blinkerfluid]

That book seems pretty close, but I'm almost certain the one I'm thinking of had something to do with a tsunami in the plot, and I'm pretty sure the boy in the story had the intent all along to buy his boat.