The Ship in the Window
by Travis Jonker; illus. by Matthew Cordell
Primary    Viking    40 pp.
8/24    9780593350577    $18.99
e-book ed.  9780593350591    $10.99

A mouse with nautical aspirations realizes her dream. Wee Mabel gazes with longing at the cunning model ship fashioned by the man who lives in the lakeside cabin where she makes her home. It is the man’s “prized possession,” the product of many months of painstaking labor; he is so possessive that he won’t even let the boy who lives with him touch it. Then one blustery night the cabin door is blown open and Mabel gets her chance. Using a mouse-sized block and tackle and some tiny logs as rollers, she lowers the boat and pushes it into the water to sail it all night long. When the man panics at the ship’s loss but then sees it under sail with Mabel at the helm, man, boy, and mouse are united in awe and glee. Jonker taps into many children’s delight in miniatures; they will thrill along with Mabel at her adventure. Cordell’s scratchy ink and wash illustrations have a faded look, their sepias and pale blues giving the tale an old-timey feel that a gooseneck desk lamp only slightly diminishes. Mabel and the boy each wear a knitted watch cap, hers a pale red and his blue; when he lifts her in his hand at the end of the story, they smile at each other, fast friends. The illustrations mix full-bleed spreads with vignettes; the latter are framed in knotted rope. Sweet wish fulfillment.

From the July/August 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.