Review by Booklist Review
Raising your voice, no matter how small it may be, can help and even save those without a voice: that's the powerful takeaway from this picture book about a plucky little sailboat that saves a flotilla of tall ships. Newbery Honor winner Preus sets the story on the day the tall ships visit a small town. All day long, Lily the sailboat has tried to get under the giant two-level lift bridge that guards the harbor, but she's bullied and buffeted by a series of big, self-important ships, including a thousand-footer ore boat, a seagoing ship, and a coast guard cutter. Their blaring horns drown out Lily's beeps. The crisis comes when a parade of tall ships sails toward the lift bridge, with Lily realizing that these old ships are silent and have no way of alerting the lift bridge that they're all on a collision course with it. Lily uses everything she's got (tooting her horn, flapping her sails, spinning in circles) to signal the bridge and ultimately saves the tall ships. The illustrations, done in oil paints, are stunning and give comic expressiveness to all the vessels. Exhilarating.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
"With decks scrubbed, lines coiled, brass gleaming, flags flying, and sails puffed out proudly," writes Preus (The Littlest Voyageur), a tall-masted but diminutive sailboat, Lily, is eager to leave the harbor and greet "a fleet of grand old tall ships" on the open waters of the lake. "Meee-me? Meee-me?" pleads Lily's little horn to the huge lift bridge, which must raise before she can leave the harbor. But much bigger boats--including a behemoth ore boat and a coast guard cutter--push right past Lily and swamp her in their wake: "OOHHH-pen, OOHHH-pen" sound the biggest boats' horns, to which the bridge dutifully responds "OOOHHH-kay. OOOHHH-kay"). Still, Lily persists, righting herself, slipping out under the bridge "just before it goes down again"--and ensuring that the flotilla makes it past the bridge and into the harbor. Myers's (Hum and Swish) lusciously brush-stroked oil illustrations combine anthropomorphism (Lily's deckhouse windows are a pair of bright, eager eyes), marine-scapes with purple-blue waters and creamy foam, and up-close action that's tense but never scary. Whether readers are old salts or landlubbers, they'll want to pipe this one aboard. An author's note discusses the story's beginnings in a real Great Lakes bridge. Ages 4--8. Author's agent: Stephen Fraser, Jennifer De Chiara Literary. Illustrator's agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (May)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
The small can also be mighty. A little sailboat named Lily needs the Aerial Lift Bridge spanning the Duluth Ship Canal in Duluth, Minnesota, to lift so that she can pass from the harbor into Lake Superior in order to greet a fleet of "grand old tall ships" who are scheduled to visit. As she sails through the harbor, she blows her horn to signal the bridge to lift; but other, bigger vessels are louder than she is and push her aside. At last, Lily is able to slip through just at the last moment. On the other side of the bridge, she greets five different kinds of ships who need her because they don't have horns to honk to let the bridge know they need to be let into the harbor. Lily leads the way and saves the day! Almost all of the exquisitely detailed illustrations, done in oil paints, are full-bleed double-page spreads, allowing the reader to sense the scope of the waterscape and feel as if they are on the lake right alongside Lily. The palette demonstrates just how many shades of blue water can be, and Myers adeptly portrays lots of waves and movement, bringing excitement to a mild body of water such as a harbor. In total, readers will learn about 11 different kinds of boats and six kinds of bridges. (This book was reviewed digitally.) An engaging underdog story that's likely to float anyone's boat. (author's note) (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
