Customer Reviews

Sailing Home: A Story of a Childhood at Sea

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Meet the Madsen family, Father, Mother, Albert, Dagmar, baby Ena, and our narrator, Mathilda. They lived aboard a four-masted sailing ship, captained by their father, that carried cargo all over the world in the late 1800s. As Mathilda tells us, their accommodations were luxurious, large bedrooms, fine furnishings, and even a marble fireplace in the main saloon, and their life aboard ship was rich with adventure and full of fun. "Unlike most homes, our didn't stay put. At night, the ship kept moving, so every morning we woke up far away from where we'd gone to sleep." They had the huge deck for play, a menagerie of pets, including a pig, kangaroo, mongoose, and monkey, astronomy lessons by night, and geography lessons as they sailed the world by day. Theirs was a unique and fascinating life, and when in port they always wanted to know, "When do we sail? When are we going back out to sea?" Gloria and Ted Rand have authored an intriguing and informative story, based on entries from the journal kept by Ena and her father, Captain Madsen. The engaging text is gripping and full of emotion, and beautifully enhanced by Mr Rand's expressive artwork. Together, word and art pull you into the story, and transport you to the high seas and another time and place. With an afterword and photo gallery to complete and personalize the story, Sailing Home is an amazing and entertaining book that's perfect for youngsters 7-10, or as a read-aloud story the entire family can share.

Sailing home is based on the real life of a family that sailed a four mast bark around the world carrying cargo between distant lands. The story is told by the captain's daughter and she explains what their daily life aboard the large sailing vessel was really like. Details of historical life that we can no longer imagine are given in this book in a kid friendly format. The black and white photos of the family in the end of this book also ad extra charm to the story.

Great addition to home library and historical enrichment for kids.

This is a great read-aloud for littles! I got this for my three-year-olds, thinking if it was too complicated we could tackle it again when they're older, but they love it right now. I simplify a little of the language as I read, but it's an engaging story of family life at sea, with an emphasis on the child's point of view (such as the family's pet monkey, and the only boy's attempts to skip school), and my preschoolers think it's great. They chose it themselves for story time tonight. The illustrations are clear and energetic, and the prose is clear but not dumbed-down. It's a great snapshot of another time and place.

This is such a fantastic book for kids under 10. We are a nautical family and my son and his friends just loved the story. One of my favorites and I will keep this one until a grandchild arrives.