Yellow Kayak

by Nina Laden, Melissa Castrillon (Illustrator)

Overview

A child and his beloved best friend go on a grand sea adventure in this magical picture book by the author and artist who created If I Had a Little Dream.

You just never know what a new day will hold if you are brave enough to find out. On one quiet afternoon, a boy and his special friend’s unexpected adventure bring joy and excitement and sights never imagined. And the best part of any adventure is returning home with stories to tell and you best friend at your side.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534401945
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Publication date:	01/23/2018
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,057,512
Product dimensions:	7.70(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	260L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Nina Laden is the author-illustrator of many books for kids, including the Peek-a series; Who Loves You, Baby?; The Night I Followed the Dog; Yellow Kayak; Dear Little One; and Love Is My Favorite Color. She lives with her husband on Lummi Island, Washington. Visit her online at NinaLaden.com.

Melissa Castrillon studied at the Cambridge School of Art where she earned a first class honors degree in illustration and a master’s degree in children’s book illustration. She is the illustrator of If I Had a Little Dream by Nina Laden. She is also the author-illustrator of The Balcony, which received the Society of Illustrators Gold Medal. Her book Dear Little One, by Nina Laden, was a School Library Journal best picture book of the year. Her books have been published all over the world. She lives in Cambridge, England, with her husband.

Editorial Reviews

11/13/2017
The team behind If I Had a Little Dream imagines a journey of ocean exploration as a boy and giraffe set off in a small wooden boat. Laden’s simple verse describes what they see as they push away from their island dock: “Fish jump./ Loons float./ Seals watch./ Little boat.” Castrillon’s sun-bleached pinks, aquas, and ochers recall faded lithographs; strands of kelp, twining octopus arms, and rolling water suggest the movement of currents and swells. Trouble threatens (“Yellow kayak./ Lightning streaks./ Thunder roars./ Sea wall leaks”), and the boy and giraffe teeter atop a breaking wave, closer to the sky than to the ocean. But the seas calm, and the next spread shows the boy emptying the boat of water as the sun sets, lighting the sky and waves a brilliant red: “Bail boat./ Good save.” They’re far from home, but help arrives from an unexpected source. Even with the excitement, Castrillon’s images convey an underlying tranquility that carries readers along with the explorers. It’s a voyage they’ll want to take again. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary. Illustrator’s agency: Pickled Ink. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"In lilting rhymes and lush, jewel-toned illustrations, Laden and Castrillon deliver an imaginative adventure through stormy seas.... Castrillon’s beautifully surreal artwork is captivating. Each scene is full of imaginative sea creatures, crashing waves, blue-green tendrils of rain, and moonlit skies, all rendered in swirling organic shapes and lines and a dense palette of saturated tones....the artwork is so gorgeous, and the wind-down conclusion, wherein the travelers are welcomed home, might make this a nice pick for bedtime. " — Booklist

Dec 12, 2017 - Booklist Online

11/01/2017
PreS-K—A child in a red-and-white striped shirt and a giraffe with red spots set off in a kayak. Their journey is presented in four-line verses that rhyme. The narration is generally third person ("Yellow kayak./Lightning streaks./Thunder roars./Sea wall leaks."), although Laden occasionally mixes voices midstream, presumably to preserve the iambic flow and brevity: "Rain stops./Be brave./Bail boat./Good save." The brave little sailor and his oarsman remain a calm comfort to one another. Their 48-hour adventure offers viewers a glimpse at a variety of swirling underwater life from salmon and squid to otters and octopuses. A second threat from a school of whales is quickly resolved. The compositions, rendered in pencil and digitally colored, are dominated by blue-greens and pinks with touches of other colors, particularly golden yellow. Castrillon has an apparent fondness for scrollwork, a predilection that lends many of her scenes a folk-art flavor, a sense of the decorative also seen in her first collaboration with Laden, If I Had a Little Dream. Some may find certain scenes overly ornamental, as on a page with mixed perspective in which the kayak and a seagull are viewed from above, while the clouds and a curtain of arabesques seem to be placed head-on. Those who prefer more active protagonists will need to look elsewhere. VERDICT The visual and aural rhythms of this circular voyage are probably best suited to sleepy snugglers.—Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library

School Library Journal

2017-09-26
A white child and a giraffe encounter danger and adventure in a small boat on the high seas.A small child and a giraffe set off in a "kayak" (although the illustrations show the boat as a plank-framed, double-ended craft rather than what readers may think of as a kayak) for an unspecified destination, but readers get the idea that it's meant to be merely a day trip. Then a sudden squall appears. The waves build, the paddle is lost, night descends, and the child and the giraffe snuggle together. Morning brings help in the arrival of sea creatures who return the paddle (and the child's lost hat), but another crisis seems imminent when huge whales surround the little boat; however, the whales turn out to be rescuers, gently prodding the boat toward shore. Author Laden's theme of calm courage, perseverance, and trust in the face of unforeseen difficulties is presented in an evocative, spare, rhyming format of four simple two-word lines per scene. Illustrator Castrillon's decorative, full-of-heart illustrations (done in pencil with digital colorization) are well-matched to the text: their stylized imagery, muted colors on off-white paper, and occasional deliberate off-registration give them an antique chromolithography look that enhances the tale's nostalgic, timeless feel.A gentle story of calm courage and of quiet, trusting perseverance that will comfort readers in their anxious times. (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews