ONE LITTLE FISHING BOAT

A family of fishers are ready for a day of fishing.

Early one morning, a mustached adult, two kids—all brown-skinned and wearing life vests over warm clothes—and their dog launch a small green outboard skiff from a rocky beach. An intriguing overhead view depicts gulls, alert to possible food, soaring nearby as the humans deploy their gillnet, made up of vertical panels of netting. The fishers come across puffins, otter pups, and harbor seals. Beluga whales peer up at the boat from below—another enticingly angled image—and an orca draws close to the prow. All these creatures are “searching for a snack in the wide, blue sea.” Unfortunately, the fishers’ next encounter is with a “gloomy thundercloud, menacing and gray.” Reassuringly, the boat immediately emerges from the storm, “solid and secure…steady and sure.” The nets on each side have remained spread, and now a salmon run is hauled in, “fish for all of us in the wide, blue sea.” The author’s note and glossary offer useful bits of information and suggest that the book’s setting is Alaska. Gillnets, which often inadvertently trap wildlife, are controversial (and in some places illegal), but Hartman cites their positive aspects. Brightly colored, simplified, but realistic double spreads with varied fonts superimposed provide animated scenes, alongside exuberant rhymes and repeated refrains.

Rocking sea rhythms and energetic art combine for a future read-aloud favorite.