Sarah's Boat: A Young Girl Learns the Art of Sailing [Paperback]

Douglas Alvord (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up

As twelve-year-old Sarah prepares for the town's annual sailboat race, working on the boat her grandfather has given her and learning the secrets of navigation, readers are schooled in tacking, coming about, compass reading, and other maneuvers.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 3-6. The line between fiction and nonfiction is blurred in this story about Sarah, who is taught to sail by her grandfather and perfects her skills enough to leap from a Puddleduck to a Bluejay sloop. With her grandfather, she sands, varnishes, and paints the Bluejay and then practices learning the ropes of the bigger boat. She enters the Labor Day race and beats several boys who have taken her for granted. This book is peculiar because the plot is predictable and the characters somewhat stereotyped, yet the sailing information, glossary, and drawings are exceptionally good. Readers of fiction may be turned off by the picture-book format, but young sailors will peruse this volume with interest. Color and black pencil sketches accompany the text, but it is the precise sailing drawings that will catch the eye. Recommended for would-be sailors. Deborah Abbott --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Tilbury House Publishers (June 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0884481182
• ISBN-13: 978-0884481188
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,859,621 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for teaching children the basics of sailing, June 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Sarah's Boat: A Young Girl Learns the Art of Sailing (Hardcover)

I read this this book to my 4-year old daughter, Sarah. She loves it, and has learned some important sailing concepts from it. We are building a live-aboard sailboat, and have been very concerned about child safety. After reading _Sarah's Boat_, we find her playing sailboat in the back yard, coming about and ducking the imaginary boom! She has been able to stand on a beach and judge the direction of the wind, and predict whether we could take a straight course to the opposite shore, or whether we would need to tack. She gleans this knowledge from what she considers a bed time story. I wish there were more books like this!

5.0 out of 5 stars well done, October 17, 2011

By 

bartlett - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sarah's Boat: A Young Girl Learns the Art of Sailing (Paperback)

Good sailing info for kids coupled with sportsmanship or right-living concepts in a nice wholesome story. Good stuff for the 8 to 12 crowd.

5.0 out of 5 stars The only book my 9 year old son has ever liked:, November 21, 2010

By 

Tammy Bloomfield (Encino, CA, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sarah's Boat: A Young Girl Learns the Art of Sailing (Hardcover)

My son does not like to read - but he does like boats and sailing. This book had the perfect amount of story line and was filled with enough real facts about sailing for him to enjoy it! He loved the characters (especially the boys who were spirited enough to make trouble but good sports enough to be good examples!) Seriously - it is the only book I have ever read with him (and we read a lot) where he said at the end, "That was a good book."
A quality book for children - both boys and girls.