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438th out of 2,744 books
—
4,934 voters
Paddle-to-the-Sea
A young Indian boy carves a little canoe with a figure inside and names him Paddle-to-the-Sea. Paddle's journey, in text and pictures, through the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean provides an excellent geographic and historical picture of the region. "Geography of the best kind made vivid by the power of imagination." -- Horn Book
Hardcover, 0 pages
Published
February 19th 1980
by Turtleback Books
(first published August 12th 1941)
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I had never heard of this book before reading it for my Caldecott Challenge, but I'm glad I did. This is definitely one of the longest Caldecott books I've ever read, so long they don't even put it in the picture book children's section of the library (it was in fiction). It won a 1942 Caldecott Honor. While I wasn't really a fan of the color illustrations (with the exception of the cover page and the two-page map journey in the back of the book), I loved the black and white ones because they we...more
Canadian Indian boy carves a small wooden canoe with a little figure in it, named Paddle-to-the-Sea. He places it on top of a snow-laden hill, and leaves. Soon the snow starts melting and Paddle starts on his voyage. He slides into a brook, leading to Lake Superior, and from there to the other Great Lakes.
This book is halfway between a regular picture book and an illustrated book. Each left-hand page is filled with text, a chapter, describing a stage of the voyage. These text pages are illuminat...more
This book is halfway between a regular picture book and an illustrated book. Each left-hand page is filled with text, a chapter, describing a stage of the voyage. These text pages are illuminat...more
This is one of my all time childhood favorites. A Native American boy's spirit of adventure and exploration is embodied in a beautifully carved bit of the North Woods. It is easy to identify with Paddle as he journeys through waters calm and fierce, to route for him to triumph against the odds and meet his goal of reaching the sea.
The book succeeds primarily because of the Caldecott Honor illustrations. The lead character is a piece of wood, lovingly transformed into a tiny Native American sailo...more
The book succeeds primarily because of the Caldecott Honor illustrations. The lead character is a piece of wood, lovingly transformed into a tiny Native American sailo...more
Holling C. Holling’s 1941 book Paddle-to-the-Sea was the first grand adventure story I read as a child. Not that I read it in 1941. I’m not that old. I read it in the 70′s. Nevertheless, decades later, I’ve not forgotten it or the sense of wonder it instilled in me. I still love adventure stories today. They never get old.
The book follows the journey of Paddle, a 12-inch, handmade pine canoe complete with a wooden Native American pilot, as it travels from Lake Nipigon, Canada all the way to the...more
The book follows the journey of Paddle, a 12-inch, handmade pine canoe complete with a wooden Native American pilot, as it travels from Lake Nipigon, Canada all the way to the...more
We listened to this as a book-on-CD driving on Feb. vacation and all loved it. (Wikipedia: A 1941 children's book - At Lake Nipigon, Canada, a boy carves a wooden model of an Indian in a canoe and sets it free to travel the Great Lakes to the Atlantic ocean. The story follows the progress of the little wooden Indian on its journey through all five Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. People carve in the bottom of the boat where he has been and then they put him in the water again) As the thir...more
I found this book the day before Bay Books, an independent bookseller, closed its doors in Concord, California. Perhaps I should say that the book found me. Why would I buy a children's book? It must have been the local book dragon whispering in my ear, for I am grateful for this great find.
The author takes us on a trip that starts in the great northern wastes of Canada, and we follow the carved toy through the wilderness and down in to the Great Lakes of the States. Along the way, we find out...more
The author takes us on a trip that starts in the great northern wastes of Canada, and we follow the carved toy through the wilderness and down in to the Great Lakes of the States. Along the way, we find out...more
This book’s illustrations were very interesting and very detailed. It was mostly scenery pictures of nature but the illustrator used such vivid colors and details they looked as if it was real. She used pictures to go with her story and they helped enhance what she was talking about. The illustrator had good texture in the picture’s that really added to them since they are mostly nature pictures. For example it makes the trees and water look so real. Another thing the illustrator did, was one pa...more
My teacher read this book to our class when I was in grade school, and I've never forgotten it. I recently rediscovered it when visiting northern Minnesota. The book is still magical! It is the story of a young boy who makes a small canoe with an Indian boy inside. He puts the canoe in the snow north of Lake Superior so that "Paddle to the Sea" can journey through the Great Lakes to the ocean. The story of Paddle's journey is such fun, and it's very educational for young readers. I've never forg...more
A young Indian boy carves a wooden Indian in a canoe out of wood and sends him on an epic journey. The little wooden toy travels through all of the Great Lakes, over the Niagara Falls, and eventually out to the sea. Text is broken up into one page chapters with black and white illustrations in the margins that contain tidbits of information and unique ways of recalling information about lakes, industries etc. Full color, full page paintings mirror text and highlight key parts of the journey desc...more
The first thing I noticed when reading this book was the detailed cover. Many books have simple covers and this one was simple, but it was done very well and the ocean and sea looked very realistic. This book was illustrator interestingly; half of the pages were black and white, while the other half showed a large variety of colors. The pictures had a lot of texture, making them look very realistic. Since most of the pictures in this book were about scenery, I think it was important to make them...more
Paddle to the Sea is a sweeping adventure through the great lakes to the sea. A young Indian boy living in Canada carves a small Indian man in a canoe and sets him out on a journey to reach the sea. He carves in the bottom please put me back in teh water I am Paddle to the Sea. This book is for children age nine and up. The images and the text give a geographical lesson of the great lakes and the surrounding area. This book is an entertaining and informative read. I especially connected with it...more
What a great story and what powerful, imaginative and well-matched illustrations. This story has an epic journey started by a Native boy near the Canadian border with all kinds of people pitching in along the way to France; geography is an understated but relevant part of the tale. The length of the book might challenge younger listeners or readers, but it is broken up into chapters along the journey, and a good reader could make this work for young listeners. This is a great companion to Willia...more
I first encountered this book when my daughter's 2nd grade class did it as a read aloud and had to make little canoes like in the book. I remember my daughter talking about it a lot, and years later, have finally listened to the audiobook. It is a nicely old-fashioned story which follows the path of a tiny wooden canoe in the water systems of the Great Lakes. The natural and civilized aspects of the journey are described in great detail all along the way. The little boat and the character within...more
I will be purchasing this one! It introduced geographical concepts in a really unique and interesting way. I loved being able to read an actual story as we learned about land masses and bodies of water, along with a variety of habitats. Holling went into great detail describing everything along Paddle's journey, and then ended the story with a map of his travels. The illustrations were beautiful as well! I highly recommend this to anyone with a child 5-10, and maybe older. I read it with my almo...more
This was a terrific read aloud for our whole family. Everyone enjoyed it, from my 5 year old to my 12 year old. The illustrations were fantastic, and the story was so beautiful, it often felt poetic. It is deserving of the award it received. I appreciate the help it gave my kids in learning the geography of the Great Lakes region of the USA.
The story follows a little canoe carved by a Indian Boy. The boy sets it on the mountain from which springs the stream that will eventually flow into Lake Su...more
The story follows a little canoe carved by a Indian Boy. The boy sets it on the mountain from which springs the stream that will eventually flow into Lake Su...more
An Indian boy makes a carving of an Indian in a canoe, names it Paddle-to-the-Sea, and sets it afloat in the Great Lakes, to make its way to the sea. Each chapter is on one page, with a full page color painting on the page opposite. If you look hard, you can find Paddle in almost every picture. When I was a child, I thought I could find him in every one, but looking at it years later, I was unable to do so. This is another of the books that had a big influence on me as a child.
A little too long/involved/detailed for my 4 yr old to listen to, but I read it myself because it is a great book. Each pair of pages is a new "chapter" with an accompanying illustration about a Native Canadian's handmade canoe with Paddle Man who sets out on a journey down the river to the Great Lakes and onto the sea. Informative as well and adventurous and entertaining. I saw this on a list as a good book for a boy and can totally agree. The boy just may need to be older than preschool...
This was a reread for me- which I love doing once in awhile. I bought it when my brother in Marquette MI carved boats for 20 girlscouts and set them adrift {he also builds wooden kayaks, canoes etc) in Lake Superior. Fabulous adventure and read that gets kids aways from their computers, screens and video games and back to what's really cool in the world. I'm going to do this here in FL- and maybe write a book Paddle-to-the-Ocean!
Clever, simple tale of a canoe carved by an Aboriginal boy and then put into the Great Lakes system. It eventually makes its way across the ocean. Despite having an inanimate object for a protagonist, this is an engaging tale, with lovely illustrations and lots of geographical and other educational material folded in for good measure.
Bonus feature: the 1966 film version!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olXmGz...
Bonus feature: the 1966 film version!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olXmGz...
A way for kids to learn about the geography and the economy of the Great Lakes region through story and pictures. I liked best the author's imaginings of the outlines of each of the lakes: Superior - the head of a wolf; Michigan - a giant pickle; Huron - a voyageur with a pack of pelts on his back; Eire - a lump of coal; Ontario - a carrot.
I borrowed this from Kristin and really loved it, even though it took me forever to get really and truly into it. I kept trying to read it right before bedtime, which didn't work in my favour. Something about the writing style just had a soporific effect on my already weary mind. I sat down to read this on Friday and made it through, all in one go. I love the writing style, love the little comments in the margins and all of the helpful maps and diagrams throughout.
One of the things I love about...more
One of the things I love about...more
1942 Caldecott Honor
Favorite illustration: The large map showing Paddle's journey.
Favorite line: "You will go with the water and you will have adventures that I would like to have." --Chapter 2
Kid-appeal: An interesting story, but it is very long and does contained dated references to Indians as Injuns. I was surprised to hear my neighbor's 5th grade class recently used it in her Waldorf classroom. Could see multi-subject uses for the book with math, language arts and social studies.
Favorite illustration: The large map showing Paddle's journey.
Favorite line: "You will go with the water and you will have adventures that I would like to have." --Chapter 2
Kid-appeal: An interesting story, but it is very long and does contained dated references to Indians as Injuns. I was surprised to hear my neighbor's 5th grade class recently used it in her Waldorf classroom. Could see multi-subject uses for the book with math, language arts and social studies.
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Carter and I both absolutely loved this book from start to finish.
This book is amazing. The illustrations are gorgeous, the writing is beautiful, and the story makes it hard to put down. Carter is so engaged, he keeps asking 'please two more pages!' It was written in 1941, but it doesn't feel old-fashioned. Makes me want to visit Lake Superior :)
This book is amazing. The illustrations are gorgeous, the writing is beautiful, and the story makes it hard to put down. Carter is so engaged, he keeps asking 'please two more pages!' It was written in 1941, but it doesn't feel old-fashioned. Makes me want to visit Lake Superior :)
This is a wonderful children's tale of a wooden Indian in a canoe named "Paddle-to-the Sea". Carved by a young Indian boy, the lad intends for Paddle to have many adventures along his journey to the sea from a stream in Nipigon country through the Great Lakes. This is a must-read-to your-children-on-your-lap book.
This book is long but there is plenty to teach out of it. It's a story of a boy making a wooden canoe with Paddle inside. The boy sets the canoe off on an adventure and the book uses small maps to keep track of the canoe. The writing is bold and creates scenes while reading, as well as, the illustrations.
Sep 26, 2012
David
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Everyone
Recommended to David by:
Gift
Has to be one of the best children's books every. Heart-warming and exciting story, beautiful and detailed illustrations. Each two-page spread is a chapter, so good for reading at bedtime over a period of time. Had it read to me, read it myself, read it to daughter, now reading it to grandchildren.
Caldecott Honor 1942
I find the plot idea fun, but the book slow. It seems to bog down over and over. The use of the word "injun" is also problematic (see http://americanindiansinchildrenslite...) as it is derogatory.
I find the plot idea fun, but the book slow. It seems to bog down over and over. The use of the word "injun" is also problematic (see http://americanindiansinchildrenslite...) as it is derogatory.
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My all-time favorite book from childhood. For years after reading it, I made plans for setting free little boats on various rivers. One idea was to attach a radio transmitter so I'd know one day my boat actually made it to the ocean. It hasn't happened yet...but I still dream...
An Indian boy in Western Canada carves a little Indian boy and a canoe for him. He sends him down the river with a note for others to help him on his journey to the sea. The story is about the people who find the carving, improve him, and send him on his way. A little slow.
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Born in Jackson County, Michigan, in 1900, Holling Clancy Holling graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1923. He then worked in a taxidermy department of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and spent time working in anthropology under Dr. Ralph Linton.
During this period, he married Lucille Webster, and within a year of their marriage accepted a position as art instructor on th...more
More about Holling Clancy Holling...
During this period, he married Lucille Webster, and within a year of their marriage accepted a position as art instructor on th...more
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“In the canoe, the Indian smiled. Once he paused in a stroke, and rested his blade. For that instant he looked like his own Paddle. There was a song in his heart. It crept to his lips, but only the water and the wind could hear.
You, Little Traveler! You made the journey, the Long Journey. You now know the things I have yet to know. You, Little Traveler! You were given a name, a true name in my father’s lodge. Good Medicine, Little Traveler! You are truly a Paddle Person, a Paddle-to-the-Sea!”
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You, Little Traveler! You made the journey, the Long Journey. You now know the things I have yet to know. You, Little Traveler! You were given a name, a true name in my father’s lodge. Good Medicine, Little Traveler! You are truly a Paddle Person, a Paddle-to-the-Sea!”
