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Who Sank the Boat?
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A charmingly funny read-aloud that asks an important question: Who sank the boat?
Beside the sea, there once lived a cow, a donkey, a sheep, a pig, and a tiny little mouse. They were good friends, and one warm, sunny morning, for no particular reason, they decided to go for a row in the bay. Do you know who sank the boat?
"The idea is funny, the pictures are splendid, and t ...more
Beside the sea, there once lived a cow, a donkey, a sheep, a pig, and a tiny little mouse. They were good friends, and one warm, sunny morning, for no particular reason, they decided to go for a row in the bay. Do you know who sank the boat?
"The idea is funny, the pictures are splendid, and t ...more
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Paperback, 32 pages
Published
April 16th 1996
by Puffin Books
(first published 1982)
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Indy loved reading this at grandma's. who sank the boat? Was it big fat donkey? The cheeky pig? The knitting sheep? A fun shorty easy read.
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A great favourite on my bookshelf.

Who sank the boat, is one of my personal all-time favourite children’s book. The book tells the story of a cow, a donkey, a sheep, a pig and tiny little mouse who decide to go for a row in the bay. The end question being, who sank the boat? This book is illustrated beautifully throughout the story and allows children to make predictions on who they believe sank the boat. The book also uses poetry which I found to really engage the children and this gives the book a unique edge. I would highly re
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My son picked this out telling me his teacher reads it. He's developing a real passion for reading which makes me very happy. I have to say though, this did very little for me. The story is engaging enough but I really disliked the visual style - the animals look grotesque. I can see why it's a classic but I like my illustrated books to have more style. I did quite like that final page though.
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A fun book that offers the chance for interaction. The reader is periodically asked questions about who sunk the boat. Could be used as a reading book in ks1 or even to help teach balance in maths as the weight of the donkey balances that of the cow.

"Who Sank thee Boat?" by Pamela Allen is a creative children's book that relates the tale of a cow, a horse, a pig, a sheep, and a mouse and their simple journey of getting into a rowboat. However, as the title indicates, something goes wrong, and the boat sinks. The enjoyment of reading mainly comes from seeing the story unfold as first the cow, then the horse and the rest of the animals precariously perch on the small craft. Obviously, as the mouse mounts, the ship sinks. Full of fun illustrat
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Book 2, Day 2 - Mini Family Classics from News Limited.
First published in 1982.
32 pages
Pamela Allen is both author and illustrator.
"Who Sank the Boat" won the Gaelyn Gordon Award in 2001, an annual award for a work of fiction by a living author, that is still in print, and is "generally recongnised as a successful, enduring children's book". Pamela Allen herself received the Margaret Mahy Award in 2004 as "a person who has made a significant contribution to the broad field of children's literatu ...more
First published in 1982.
32 pages
Pamela Allen is both author and illustrator.
"Who Sank the Boat" won the Gaelyn Gordon Award in 2001, an annual award for a work of fiction by a living author, that is still in print, and is "generally recongnised as a successful, enduring children's book". Pamela Allen herself received the Margaret Mahy Award in 2004 as "a person who has made a significant contribution to the broad field of children's literatu ...more

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This classic story, retold and illustrated by Pamela Allen, really cracked me up. Maybe I'm losing it in my older years. The story is about animal friends who decide to go on a row in the lake on a nice day. But they're all so chubby!! Then they squeeze themselves one by one into this ridiculously small rowboat to try to take a row, and of course the boat sinks. There's repetition in the asking of "who sank the boat?" After the first three readings, my little guy loved shouting "NOOOO!" to the q
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Lovely illustrations, and a good text, which has some good rhymes. A reading aloud book, definitely, as some of the words are hard for beginning readers, while the story-line is suitable for younger readers. As for science, it is worthwhile building up the picture that everyone sitting in the boat contributes to its sinking. Eventually, the cry goes up that "Everyone did!" in reponse to the question "Who sank the boat?"
Pamela Allen also wrote "Mr Archimedes Bath" which is a terrific exploration ...more
Pamela Allen also wrote "Mr Archimedes Bath" which is a terrific exploration ...more

Our kids enjoyed this book and now our grandson enjoys this book. We always use WHO SANK THE BOAT? as a springboard to do a sink/float experiment . . . seeing which household objects will sink or float in a dishpan filled with water making predictions each time and talking about our conclusions (i.e. plastic & wooden things float unless they have holes in them; metal things, marbles sink). Fun!

Miss 3 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors. This one was ok.
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Jan 31, 2019
Jade
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Young children
Shelves:
bean
Re-read
A classic. A clever way of showing younger readers that sometimes there's no single cause when something goes wrong.
The smallest person of the household thought the mouse's contribution to be hilarious. ...more
A classic. A clever way of showing younger readers that sometimes there's no single cause when something goes wrong.
The smallest person of the household thought the mouse's contribution to be hilarious. ...more

I think this one is considered a classic, and it's fine, the kids all laughed when the little mouse sank the boat at the end. But it's wordy with awkward rhymes, I'm not a huge fan of the illustrations, and reading it more than once is a chore.
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Quite a good book with good illustrations. And the tale was excellent. I just wish the ending on who sank the boat was a little better.
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Pamela Allen, born in April 1934, in Devonport, New Zealand[1] is a children's writer and illustrator. She has published over 30 picture books since 1980, when she moved to Australia. Eight of her books have been adapted for the stage by The Patch Theatre Company and performed at the Sydney Opera House. Pamela currently lives in Auckland.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_A...) ...more
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_A...) ...more
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