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My Father's Arms Are a Boat

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My Father's Arms Are a Boat

Board Book

$15.95

Board Book
$15.95

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Overview

In this quiet, sad, but ultimately incandescent picture book, we meet a gentle, steady father who calms his anxious son.

It's quieter than it's ever been. Unable to sleep, a young boy climbs into his father's arms. Feeling the warmth and closeness of his father, he begins to ask questions about the birds, the foxes, and whether his mom will ever wake up. They go outside under the starry sky. Loss and love are as present as the white spruces, while the father's clear answers and assurances calm his worried son. Here we feel the cycles of life and life's continuity, even in the face of absence and loss, so strongly and clearly that we know at the end that everything will, somehow, be all right.

Born in 1953, Stein Erik Lunde has written sixteen books, mostly for children and young adults. His books have been published in many countries. This is his first book to be published in the United States. He also writes lyrics and has translated Bob Dylan into Norwegian. In 2009 My Father's Arms Are A Boat was awarded the Norwegian Ministry's Culture Prize for the Best Book for Children and Youth. The book was also nominated for the 2011 German Children's Literature Award.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781592701247
Publisher:	Enchanted Lion
Publication date:	02/05/2013
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.50(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Stein Erik Lunde: Born in 1953, Stein Erik Lunde has written 16 books, mostly for children and young adults. His books have been published in Sweden, Denmark, The Faroe Islands, Germany and France. This is his first book to be published in the United States. He also has written lyrics for more than a hundred songs and has translated Bob Dylan into Norwegian. Over the past 14 years, Lunde’s books have received many awards. In 2009, My Father’s Arms Are A Boat was awarded the Norwegian Ministry’s Culture Prize for the Best Book for Children & Youth.
My Father’s Arms Are A Boat was also nominated for the 2011 German Children’s Literature Award (Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis).

Øyvind Torseter: Born in 1972, Øyvind Torseter is an artist and one of Norway’s most acclaimed illustrators. He employs both traditional and digital picture techniques and has made five picture books on his own and several together with different authors. Torseter has received numerous prizes for his books, including the Bologna Ragazzi Award, the Norwegian Ministry of Culture’s prize for the Best Book for Children and Youth (for 5 different books, including this one), and the “Most Beautiful Book Award” for best picture book, also for five different books. In 2011, he received the Norwegian Book Art Prize. For 2012, he has been nominated for the ALMA Award and the Hans Christian Andersen Award.

Kari Dickson: Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Kari Dickson grew up bilingually, as her mother is Norwegian and her grandparents could not speak English. She holds a B.A. in Scandinavian studies and an M.A. in translation.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A young boy, grieving and unable to sleep, climbs into his father’s steady arms to find warmth and reassurance in this luminous story about loss, love and healing. [...] A breathtaking masterpiece." — Kirkus Reviews

"[Lunde's] writing is lovely in its spareness, but also hard edged, even in the story's many moments of tenderness. ("We look straight into each other's eyes. His eyes, black as night, are dark and deep in his face.") Pain is never far from the surface, yet when the boy's father assures him, "Everything will be all right," in the final scene, readers will believe him." — Publishers Weekly

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

It’s quiet, it’s winter, it’s night, and a boy can’t sleep. He makes his way to the living room, where his father sits, not listening to the radio; he holds his son, and they discuss the birds and foxes outside. “Granny says the red birds are dead people,” the boy tells readers, a line that rings out like a shot. Then the silence and the gaping sense of absence in Torseter’s ink-scratched, cut-paper dioramas become clearer. “Is Mommy asleep?.... She’ll never wake up again?” the boy asks when they go out into the snow to look at the stars. Lunde’s first book to be published in the U.S. doesn’t soften the way that the death of a parent and spouse irrevocably alters life. His writing is lovely in its spareness, but also hard-edged, even in the story’s many moments of tenderness (“We look straight into each other’s eyes. His eyes, black as night, are dark and deep in his face”). Pain is never far from the surface, yet when the boy’s father assures him, “Everything will be all right,” in the final scene, readers will believe him. Ages 4–up. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

2014 Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book

Brain Pickings' Best Children's, Illustrated, and Picture Books of 2013

"A young boy, grieving and unable to sleep, climbs into his father’s steady arms to find warmth and reassurance in this luminous story about loss, love and healing. [...] A breathtaking masterpiece." — STARRED REVIEW, Kirkus Reviews

"The quiet, intimate text and enigmatic paper-collage and ink illustrations make a world of their own that commends interest beyond the therapeutic." — STARRED REVIEW, The Horn Book

"This distinctive look at life, death, and grief is beautiful and thought-provoking." — School Library Journal

"Stunning in its writing and illustration, this is a picture book that is noteworthy and memorable." — Waking Brain Cells

"The striking, paper-cut-out illustrations add an unforgettable touch to this poignant tale of love, loss and comfort. Highly recommended." — Midwest Book Review

"[Lunde's] writing is lovely in its spareness, but also hard edged, even in the story's many moments of tenderness. ("We look straight into each other's eyes. His eyes, black as night, are dark and deep in his face.") Pain is never far from the surface, yet when the boy's father assures him, "Everything will be all right," in the final scene, readers will believe him." — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

K-Gr 3—This quiet, melancholy picture book spans a long, lonely night with a boy and his father. Unable to sleep, the youngster climbs into his father's lap and through a conversation that lasts several spreads starts asking about the animals outside: "What about the red birds?" "Are they asleep?" "Is the fox asleep too?" "Is Mommy asleep?" Mommy is asleep and here readers finally learn why this book told from the boy's perspective feels so forlorn-Mommy isn't going to wake up. The cut-paper collage illustrations are somber and ethereal, and the paper-doll details and layouts in black, white, and blues with touches of orange draw children in. After the father carries his son outside to look at the stars, they come back in and comfort each other through the rest of the long night. Neither sleeps, but on the final page, done in warm orange, the father's words offer solace and hope. "'Everything will be all right,' says Daddy." "Are you sure?" "I'm sure." This distinctive look at life, death, and grief is beautiful and thought-provoking.—Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA

School Library Journal

A young boy, grieving and unable to sleep, climbs into his father's steady arms to find warmth and reassurance in this luminous story about loss, love and healing. Snow and silence have fallen. A father sits in a darkened room by the fire. His sleepless son, lovingly bundled up, looks out his room's black window. He finds his father, who holds him. They begin to talk, about plans for the next day, about the birds they feed and the foxes that hunt. The father calms his boy's anxious questions with the gentle constant: "Everything will be all right." The boy asks about his mother, and the two go out into the night. The child wishes on a star and is filled with a profound longing. Back inside, the father holds his son until sleep finally comes. Lunde's lyrical text and descriptive language is immediate and intimate. Through it he invokes sensory memories of closeness, warmth and refuge. Torseter's sophisticated artwork brings an even greater emotional depth to the story. Color is used minimally, as the illustrations work in tones. His mixed-media illustrations, done within a 3-D format, like a diorama, have an ethereal quality. They seem grounded in reality, yet they are dreamlike, giving the impression one has been privileged to see someone else's memory. His final spread soars as a wordless affirmation of hope. A breathtaking masterpiece. (Picture book. 4 & up)

Kirkus Reviews