♦ A celebration of summer and sailing—with some surprises.
As in Seaside Stroll (2021), Trevino limits his lexicon to a smattering of alliterative s-words that describe a small sailor’s excursion with a grandfatherly “skipper.” Before dawn, the pair board a little sloop-rigged sailboat under scarlet canvas. In the near-darkness, the “stowaway” spotted on the prow first seems to be a “skunk” (“Scat! Scram!”) but turns out to be a tan-and-white pup that leaps overboard but is soon fished out. The sunrise is “spectacular!”; at lunchtime they land on a pleasant island. A “sudden squall” sends them scrambling, but it soon passes, and all three slumber in the sun. Waking, the dog sniffs and strides to the empty slip: The boat has drifted off! When the humans find themselves “stranded!” they are stunned. But they spot the stowaway swimming with the painter in its mouth, towing the boat back (a helpful wind billowing the canvas). The three sail off, the boat’s name, Serendipity, having proven prophetic. As in the earlier book, the selection of words is sensitive and effective: Clear sans-serif type makes many of them suitable for early reading. The humans are tan-skinned in Lechuga’s realistic, colorful visuals, which blend full-bleed illustrations and a few vignettes, perfectly matching the text’s simple, lovely spirit, conveying both serenity and suspense. The subtle, silent bonding of dog, child, and caregiver is especially sweet.
Spare, satisfying, sibilant storytelling.
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
The stars are still out when a little boy and his grandfather set sail on their sailboat, Serendipity. But a stowaway has come aboard for the sail, too! A dog leaps out of the boat, swims around, and is scooped back into the sailboat by the grandfather. As they sail slowly, a spectacular sunrise unfolds. They stop for snacks and a bit of play before a squall. When the skies calm, they take a nap. When the little boy and his grandfather wake, they find that their sailboat has sailed away without them. They’re stranded—until they notice their new stowaway friend tugging the boat back to the dock. Together, the trio sails back home under blue skies. This book is cleverly captured in the text, where every word begins with the letter “s”. This alliteration could help strengthen children’s phonemic awareness. The illustrations pair nicely with the limited text and supplement the storytelling, prompting deeper discussions that support children’s oral language skills, such as narrative skills. A final page offers an author’s note on storytelling in American Sign Language, defines and labels a figure with the parts of a sailboat, and explains what serendipity means and how it relates to the story’s problem resolution. A fun read-aloud for all children, and perhaps a particular benefit for some speech therapy applications.
—Children's Literature
