Best Children's Boats & Ships Books

Skandians, as any reader of Ranger's Apprentice could tell you, are known for their size and strength. And courage - which they will need every ounce of to do battle at sea against the other bands, the Wolves and the Sharks, in the ultimate race. Full of seafaring adventures and epic battles, Book 1 of The Brotherband Chronicles is sure to thrill readers of Ranger's Apprentice while enticing a whole new generation just now discovering the books. John Flanagan is the award-winning author of Ranger's Apprentice series and its new spin-off series Brotherband.

Hal, his Brotherband crew, and the Ranger Gilan have freed the twelve Araluens sold into slavery. John Flanagan grew up in Sydney, Australia, hoping to be a writer, and after a successful career in advertising and television, he began writing a series of short stories for his son, Michael, in order to encourage him to read. Now with his companion series, Brotherband Chronicles, the novels of John Flanagan have sold millions of copies and made readers of kids the world over. Steady on, fellow!”. Tom was a plow horse, well past middle age and resigned, like most of his placid breed, to the constant task of plodding up and down, hauling a plow that carved consecutive furrows in the rich earth of Halder farm. He wasn’t accustomed to being stopped in mid-furrow and he turned his shaggy head to look at his owner, Devon Halder. Later that night, when he was asked in the local tavern what led him to stop and and turn around, he couldn’t really recall. Perhaps he had heard the slight sounds of creaking leather and rope, or the rustle of a sail in the brisk wind. The days when Skandians used to raid the coastal and river villages of Araluen were well in the past now. The crew, those he could see, were dressed in Skandian fash­ion—with leather and sheepskin vests and leggings held secure by crisscross bindings. Yet he saw none of the horned helmets for which the Skandian sea wolves were well known, the sight of which would strike fear into any honest farmer’s heart. Instead, several of them wore dark woolen watch caps, rolled down to cover their ears against the cold. As Devon watched, he realized that the second man had a wooden hook in place of his right hand. He watched her closely as she sailed past, gradually pulling out into the center of the river to round the approaching bend. The helmsman and his companion lowered their hands and seemed to lose interest in the elderly farmer and his plow horse. “Probably the most exciting thing that’s happened to him since his plow got stuck on a tree root five days ago.”. Hal raised an eyebrow. Thorn nodded, scratching his rump with the blunt end of his wooden hook. surprised he didn’t go pelting off to raise the alarm when he saw us.” Thorn had no idea how close the farmer had come to doing just that. As they rounded the bend and the farmer and his horse disap­peared from sight, Kloof planted her forepaws. Then, content that she had asserted her superiority over all things Araluen, she dropped back to the deck, slid her front feet and flumped down onto the planks. For a few seconds, she watched Hal out of one eye, then she sighed and settled back to sleep. Hal cast his gaze over the tilled fields and green forests that lined the banks of the river. Stig was sitting on a coil of rope several meters away, idly put­ting an edge on his already razor-sharp saxe. But they’d had a long, hard voyage south to Socorro and Hal wanted the Heron in tip-top shape for her first appearance at Castle Araluen. There were some sections of running rigging that had frayed and needed splicing and repairing, and there was a large, splintered gash in one of the planks on the waterline, where they had nearly run aground pursuing Tursgud’s renegade ship Nightwolf through the shoals. In addition, Edvin wanted to replenish their stores and fresh food and suggested that they should do it at Cresthaven, where the village was contracted to supply their needs as part of the duty ship agreement. “No point spending our money elsewhere when they’ll provide it for nothing here,” Edvin had said, and Hal agreed. As a result, they sailed out of Cresthaven and headed north to the river mouth some two days after Gilan had ridden off, waving farewell as he topped the rise above the bay where they were moored. “It’s a little over a day’s ride and I’m told those Ranger horses cover ground at a prodigious rate.”. “He can have the welcome committee ready for us then,” Thorn added. Ulf paused, smiling quietly to himself, preparing to throw out his verbal challenge. He had noticed Ulf admiring the girl early in the evening and had swooped, success­fully, before his brother could act. As they continued speaking, their voices, at first lowered, rose in volume so that the entire crew could listen to their meaningless drivel. The massively built boy was sitting forward of the mast, lean­ing back against it, his long legs splayed out on the deck before him. The rules of the ship were that if the twins carried on one of their idiotic arguments at sea, Ingvar was. He had resumed his seat against the mast, and Hal heard him give vent to a loud sigh. “Have you noticed Ingvar’s been acting strangely for the past few days?” Hal asked his first mate. distance, set among tailored and carefully tended parkland, stood the majestic, beauti­ful Castle Araluen, a mass of graceful spires, soaring turrets, flying buttresses and fluttering pennants.

Tursgud—leader of the Shark Brotherband and Hal's constant opponent—has turned from a bullying youth into a pirate and slave trader. John began writing The Ruins of Gorlan, the first in the mega-selling Ranger’s Apprentice series, for his son, Michael, and is still hard at work on the series and its spinoff, Brotherband Chronicles.

said the friendly. Little Blue Truck. Little Blue Truck is a joyful cacophony of animal and truck sounds that will have youngsters beeping and quacking—and begging for one more go-round! While the message might be a little heavy-handed, this is still a fun, rollicking story that should find a place in most collections.— Rachael Vilmar, Eastern Shore Regional Library, Salisbury, MD Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. McElmurry''s ( Mad About Plaid ) gouaches recall the heyday of Golden Books in their combination of vividness, naïveté and sweetness, and her rich palette achieves verisimilitude that is no less satisfying for being nostalgic."

A young boy, lying awake one Christmas Eve, is welcomed aboard a magical trip to the North Pole . One couldn't select a more delightful and exciting premise for a children's book than the tale of a young boy lying awake on Christmas Eve only to have Santa Claus sweep by and take him on a trip with other children to the North Pole. Amazon Exclusive: A Letter from Chris Van Allsburg Over the past twenty-five years, many people have shared stories with me about the effect that reading The Polar Express has had on their families and on their celebration of Christmas. A dozen years earlier the woman, who had no children of her own, befriended a neighbor, a boy of about seven, named Eddie. She had a collection of picture books, which she read to him, but around the holidays, the only story he ever wanted to hear, over and over, was The Polar Express . One year she offered to give him the book, but Eddie declined because he wanted to hear her read it aloud to him, which she continued to do every year until the boy and his family moved away. Eddie, quietly and a little self-consciously, read The Polar Express . Chris Van Allsburg Recipes and Activities to Celebrate the 25th Anniversary of The Polar Express (Click on Images for the Recipe or Activity [PDF])Snacks for Santa Candy Cane Sugar Cookies Polar Chocolate Nougat Caramel Squares Christmas Snowball Cookies A Polar Express Word Search A Polar Express Crossword A Polar Express Maze PreSchool-Grade 2-Chris Van Allsburg's Caldecott-winning Christmas classic (HM, 1985) is 15 years old, but it is a timeless story that just keeps getting better. As the Polar Express pulls into town one Christmas Eve, offering a magical, unforgettable trip to the North Pole, a young boy boards the train.

Draw 50 Cars, Trucks, and Motorcycles shows artists of all levels how to draw with ease by following simple step-by-step examples. An avid worker, Ames directed his own advertising agency, illustrated for several magazines, and illustrated approximately 150 books that range from picture books to postgraduate texts.

New York Times Bestseller Rosie may seem quiet during the day, but at night she’s a brilliant inventor of gizmos and gadgets who dreams of becoming a great engineer. When her great-great-aunt Rose (Rosie the Riveter) comes for a visit and mentions her one unfinished goal—to fly—Rosie sets to work building a contraption to make her aunt’s dream come true. From the powerhouse author-illustrator team of Iggy Peck, Architect comes Rosie Revere, Engineer , another charming, witty picture book about believing in yourself and pursuing your passion. But when Great-Great Aunt Rose shows up for an extended stay sporting a red polka-dotted scarf à la Rosie the Riveter, she regales her niece with stories of her experiences building airplanes during World War II. She wistfully declares, “The only thrill left on my list is to fly!/But time never lingers as long as it seems./I'll chalk that one up to an old lady's dreams.” This is an itch that Rosie has to scratch, so she sets about designing a unique contraption to help her aunt take to the skies. The rhyming text may take a few practice shots before an oral reading just to get the rhythm right, but the story will no doubt inspire conversations with children about the benefits of failure and the pursuit of dreams.–Maggie Chase, Boise State University, IDα(c) Copyright 2013.