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17th out of 82 books
—
165 voters
Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat
When Jonathan loses his best friend, a stuffed bear named Frederick, he sets sail on the Big Blue Boat to find him. Along the way he assembles a ragtag crew, including a mountain goat, a lonely circus elephant, and even a friendly whale. Adventure and intrigue (and pirates!) follow.
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
June 7th 2011
by Roaring Brook Press
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I may be letting my admiration for "A Sick Day for Amos McGee" bleed into reviewing this one - but I do love this book. He is fanciful but matter of fact. He doesn't need to explain HOW or really even WHY a big blue boat sails on a whale (or how animals ride on a bus to visit Amos McGee). It just happens. For some reason I had flashes of Roald Dahl while reading this. Maybe it was the fact that a child has a whimsical adventure and makes the decisions without much adult influence. Collage is one...more
Let your preconceptions set sail before embarking on this voyage of a book. In Jonathan’s world, a tugboat captain has no problem assisting a little boy in setting off on a great ocean liner in search of a lost friend, and parents don’t think twice about trading their child’s beloved teddy bear for a toaster. “Toasters really are useful,” they explain. And so Jonathan has no choice but to retrieve his dear teddy named Frederick on the great blue bloat that sits in the harbor, and to collect alon...more
Having viewed the trailer (over and over), for which Mr. Stead also composed the music, I so wanted to fall in love with this story. I laughed out loud over the item bartered for, enjoyed the clever ways the animals participate in this cumulative tale, but overall I didn't connect as much as I'd hoped. That said, the art is some of the best I've seen. Brilliant, vibrant, detailed, and whimsical, it demonstrates the creator's passion for all things nautical. All in all, I loved this story enough...more
Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat is an entertaining cumulative tale about a boy's adventures searching for his beloved bear Frederick. For me, the illustrations really made the difference in pulling me into the story. Author Philip Stead and his wife Rebecca became widely known for A Sick Day for Amos McGee when it won the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 2011. This book shows that the illustrations talents are not limited to Rebecca - the use of collage and beautiful water colors are absolutel...more
Each day Jonathan and his best friend, Frederick, a stuffed bear, walk down to the wharf and gaze up at the Big Blue Boat. But one day Jonathan’s parents decide he’s too old for stuffed animals and trade Frederick for a toaster. Heartbroken, Jonathan walks to the wharf alone. There he decides to search the world for his friend sailing on the Big Blue Boat. In his search Jonathan runs into trouble, but he makes new friends (a goat, an elephant, and a whale) that help the boat stay afloat. Finally...more
Jonathan’s parents trade his teddy bear for a toaster, so Jonathan must set off on a journey alone on a Big Blue Boat to find Frederick. Along the way, he befriends a mountain goat, a circus elephant, and a whale.
A slyly humorous story.
“’Hello,’ said Jonathan to a mountain goat. ‘I’m looking for a bear named Frederick.’
The goat was startled. He had never met a sea captain before.
‘I’ve never met a bear before,’ said the goat, ‘but someday I would like to.’
Jonathan looked up. ‘I could use a first...more
A slyly humorous story.
“’Hello,’ said Jonathan to a mountain goat. ‘I’m looking for a bear named Frederick.’
The goat was startled. He had never met a sea captain before.
‘I’ve never met a bear before,’ said the goat, ‘but someday I would like to.’
Jonathan looked up. ‘I could use a first...more
When Jonathan's parents trade his teddy bear Frederick for a toaster, Jonathan sails the big blue boat out to sea in search of his friend. He picks up passengers and makes new friends along the way, including an elephant who is too old for the circus, but is valued as an "experienced traveler" and a whale who rescues the boat after it is attacked by pirates by swimming with it on his back. (Reminds me a bit of John Burningham's Mr. Gumpy.) Stead's illustrations are a highlight -- his children an...more
I am so weird. Why do I dislike Itsy Mitsy Runs Away but love this one? They both have wacky premises and perverse parents.
BUT. I think the writing in Big Blue Boat is much stronger, more lyrical, with better rhythm and repetitive structure.
And Jonathan leaves those perverse parents far behind and is his own agent and solves his own problems with the help of his new companions, and finally, yes, finds Frederick (Mitsy never DOES really run away, does she?) in the arms of a girl who is HER own...more
BUT. I think the writing in Big Blue Boat is much stronger, more lyrical, with better rhythm and repetitive structure.
And Jonathan leaves those perverse parents far behind and is his own agent and solves his own problems with the help of his new companions, and finally, yes, finds Frederick (Mitsy never DOES really run away, does she?) in the arms of a girl who is HER own...more
Philip C. Stead's "Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat", is a story about a little boy who loses his teddy-bear, and best friend. Jonathan then goes on a trip across seas to find his best friend. Along the Jonathan comes across other animals, and learns that he can have more than one best friend. I really liked this book because it talked about friendship, and how friendship comes in all shapes, sizes, and times. The illustrations in this book were very unique. They are done in a collage/watercolor f...more
Love the illustrations in this book. I’m unfamiliar with the artistic medium used by Stead, but it definitely has texture. It appears to be cutouts of maps and stamps that have been pieced together and painted on using watercolors. My only criticism of this book is the story is not as strong as some of Stead’s other books. There doesn’t appear to be any theme to the story and the plot doesn’t develop in any real creative way. However, I’m an adult and I think a child would enjoy the story of how...more
It's a good thing this one was alredy in the works when the Caldecott was announced. I'd hate to have to wait for Philip to get over his newly-famous jitters and get back to work.
This story has lots of literary elements (repetative language, onomatopoeia, metaphor, similie, dialogue, plot, narrative, climax, resolution), but none detract from this adventure story.
Highly recommended for young listeners who can sit for a longer picture book. One that you can expect to read again and again.
Oh, and...more
This story has lots of literary elements (repetative language, onomatopoeia, metaphor, similie, dialogue, plot, narrative, climax, resolution), but none detract from this adventure story.
Highly recommended for young listeners who can sit for a longer picture book. One that you can expect to read again and again.
Oh, and...more
First the good. I really liked the illustrations. The childlike way many of the pictures are done, plus the incorporation of other elements like stamps or scraps of news papers make the pictures very interesting.
The story however was lacking. Just didn't love it at all. A young boys parents decide he is to old for his teddy bear so they trade it for a toaster. He then takes off in a big blue boat to search for his teddy bear friend high and low. The story just gets weird in a dumb way for me af...more
The story however was lacking. Just didn't love it at all. A young boys parents decide he is to old for his teddy bear so they trade it for a toaster. He then takes off in a big blue boat to search for his teddy bear friend high and low. The story just gets weird in a dumb way for me af...more
While I loved A Sick Day for Amos McGee, and admire some of the art in Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat by Philip C. Stead, I just didn't get into this fantasy story. In fact, parts of the story really got my goat, not the goat in this story mind you, nor do I actually own a goat, but just as a figure of speech - as in annoyed. First a story and illustration recap:
The story follows a young boy, whose parents trade his teddy bear for a toaster, and his quest to recover his beloved bear.
When Jonath...more
The story follows a young boy, whose parents trade his teddy bear for a toaster, and his quest to recover his beloved bear.
When Jonath...more
Mar 05, 2012
Angela
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
childrens,
family,
fantasy,
friendship,
picture-book,
boat,
teddy-bear,
goat,
whale,
toaster,
pirates,
best-friends,
sailing,
little-boy
Jonathan, a little boy who has lost his best friend Fredrick, who is a teddy bear. Jonathan and Fredrick always went to the dock to see the Big Blue Boat everyday, but after Fredrick is lost Jonathan decides use the Big Blue Boat to find him. We follow Jonathan on his adventure to find Fredrick and on his journey he meets and makes new friends who help him. This is a good picture book to read aloud that contains sequencing for grades pre-k-3rd. It is also a good book for 1st-3rd grade to read on...more
I almost really loved this book. Jonathan's parents trade his beloved stuffed bear, Frederick, for a toaster. Jonathan takes the Big Blue Boat to search for Frederick and along the way, meets a cast of characters who join him on the ship. I loved the cumulative part of the story and the repetition in Jonathan's adventure.
The tone has a calm, soothing quality that I think makes the perfect bedtime story. The story is a bit slow to start; Jonathan's parents are presented briefly as mean, uncaring...more
The tone has a calm, soothing quality that I think makes the perfect bedtime story. The story is a bit slow to start; Jonathan's parents are presented briefly as mean, uncaring...more
This is a strange and whimsical story that follows a young boy as he goes out into the world in search of his beloved stuffed bear. It has wonderful illustrations, filled with bits of mixed media; especially stamps and travel-related items, like maps and charts. The story itself is quite fantastic and somewhat bizarre, but lovable, too. And the repetition is sure to be a hit with younger children. We really enjoyed reading this story together.
Wonderful details in the collage work in the illustrations. I could spend hours pouring over each spread. Stead's style, both classic and whimsical, is still apparent in the line drawings that overlay the collage (complete with adorable elephant!) I'm not certain the text works as well as it could, but as a package I truly enjoyed the book. And I've found myself going back to it again and again to look at the illustrations.
Recycled papers of fascinating origin adorn the pages of this book, both blending in with the images and presenting opportunities for the reader to feel like an archaeologist, discovering exciting texts in each picture. This book would be great to share with middle grade students to highlight the possibilities of using recycled materials and mixed media in art.
This cumulative story about a boy's quest to find his missing teddy bear has all the foundations of a wonderful tale, but fell a little flat for me. I didn't quite understand how the ending tied in to the rest of the story. Having said that, I did enjoy the colorful collage-style illustrations, and the use of nautical charts and maps was creative.
Lovely. A little old-fashioned (in a good way) with illustrations reminiscent of Ezra Jack Keats. Jonathan sets sail in a Big Blue Boat to find his beloved bear Frederick, whom his clueless parents have exchanged for a toaster. On his voyage he is joined by a goat, a circus elephant, and a whale, and eventually finds his bear (plus another new friend).
I didn't connect with this book. I liked the language use but felt the story was a bit strange. This boy's parents decide he is too old for stuffed animals and gives his away. The boy goes off looking for his bear on a big blue boat. Along the way he meets other magical friends and they all end up sailing away on the big blue boat.
This definitely reminded me of "A Sick Day for Amos McGee." And after I read it, what do you know? It was written by the Caldecott Winner's husband, Philip Stead. The illustrations are charming with residual newspaper print in the background. And even though it doesn't make logical sense, the boy, the bear, mountain goat,, circus elephant, little girl and the whale all fit together somehow like they belong. I love the fact that they made Jonathan African-American. It made the book just right.
I'd give 5 stars for the collaged illustrations, which are fun and clever. (They would make a wonderful teaching tool for a unit on collage in art class.)
I'm only giving 2 stars for the story because I don't feel like the story flows well, and it was...lacking. My young children didn't find it very appealing, and I got bored reading it, never a good sign, in my opinion. My four-year-old, my target audience, wandered away halfway through the story.
I'm only giving 2 stars for the story because I don't feel like the story flows well, and it was...lacking. My young children didn't find it very appealing, and I got bored reading it, never a good sign, in my opinion. My four-year-old, my target audience, wandered away halfway through the story.
This was most certainly a fun romp in children's literature. I'd be willing to buy this for any future children I may have. I loved the illustrations and how they blended collage and (maybe) watercolor. It was just a friendly story about finding friends to have adventures with. Delightful.
The story is not as strong as Stead's A Home for Bird or A Sick Day for Amos McGee, and at times it felt a little fractured. In fact, two or three times I flipped the pages back to see if I had accidentally skipped a previous page, that's how much there seemed to be holes in the story. It is nonetheless a very memorable book, and the collage illustrations help set it apart. This is why I finally liked it very much.
I would have given this book three stars, but the art work is absolutely fabulously amazingly gorgeous.
The storyline however, seemed a little weak, and served mainly to introduce new characters to the stories, i.e. the illustrations. Hm.
Did I mention I loved the illustrations?!
The storyline however, seemed a little weak, and served mainly to introduce new characters to the stories, i.e. the illustrations. Hm.
Did I mention I loved the illustrations?!
Wonderful illustrations with the collage and acrylics. But I feel the story is not put together well. The first read was OK. There is good sound vocabulary. But when I read it to some students, the response was negative. They felt the end of the story left them "adrift" no pun intended.
Beautiful illustrations and a nice story about a boy looking for his stuffed animal. I started with three stars, but as a think more about the book, the story really grabbed me and pulled me in. This could be a favorites of early elementary students for years to come.
I love this author and I'm a big fan of this book. The creative illustrations of old ship's notes and logs create scrapbook like pictures that add to the imaginative journey the text relays. It's a heartwarming story of a journey that exemplifies sharing and sacrifice.
I love the illustrations (actually the fact that the illustrations were done with torn maps). I laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of the first few pages, but it turned into a nice repetitive book that children 2-6 could enjoy.
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“You're getting too old for a stuffed animal. So we traded your bear for a toaster.”
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Sep 01, 2011 09:35pm
Sep 06, 2011 05:51pm