By sea, lake, or moat, come sail away in these five recent picture books, all transporting summer reads. For more recommendations, see the Guide/Reviews Database subject tag Sea stories.

The Last Zookeeper
by Aaron Becker; illus. by the author
Primary, Intermediate    Candlewick    40 pp.
3/24    9781536227680    $18.99

Becker’s (The Tree and the River, rev. 3/23) latest wordless fantasy takes readers to a post-apocalyptic future. Animals in a flooded zoo huddle on exposed bits of dry land; they are tended by an enormous yellow robot with wind turbines mounted on its back. Becker works in landscape orientation, with the robot’s verticality dominating most compositions. Viewers get a sense of its scale by the relative smallness of the animals — it can hold two pandas, an adult and a cub, in its palm. Becker gives readers no clues as to the nature of the calamity that has befallen this place beyond the endless water, the decay of the zoo buildings, and the utter absence of humans. But he does give them some semblance of hope. As the water rises, the robot fashions an ark of sorts. The animals file aboard, and they all set sail on a journey that gives Becker ample opportunity to explore the moods of his seascape. An encounter with another robot, this one blue and powered by solar panels, leads to sanctuary. Its hot air balloon accommodates both robots and all the animals, carrying them to an Edenic island, lush with vegetation and complete with waterfall and rainbow. Becker’s characteristically virtuosic ink and watercolor paintings offer much for young readers to pore over and peer at, which may be enough for many. Others will find the story and the questions it poses lingering long after the book is closed. VICKY SMITH

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. VICKY SMITH

The Goat and the Stoat and the Boat
by Em Lynas; illus. by Matt Hunt
Preschool, Primary    Nosy Crow    32 pp.
4/24    9798887770529    $17.99

The story opens with a boat floating in the moat of a castle. In the boat, there is a stoat who “played / in the boat / and rocked / in the boat / and rolled / in the boat.” Everything’s great until a goat (wearing a bright yellow coat, naturally) jumps in the boat, also wanting to float. This book has a Seussian level of rhythm, rhyme, and repetition, which builds a boisterous, loopy energy. The illustrations see and raise this spirit in bold colors with few lines and a mixed-media look. The compositions begin with a wide field and then zoom in tight to heighten the tension when the duo starts bickering and tempers escalate. “This is a boat for a stoat / not a goat!” This book is funny, too — particularly images of the goat with its round, stunned eyes and skinny legs akimbo. Eventually the fighting tips the boat. Once in the water, it becomes clear that the stoat can’t swim, and the goat has a choice to make. This book makes for a dynamic read-aloud, but with its predictability, simple language, and repetition, this is also an excellent choice for new readers. ADRIENNE L. PETTINELLI

 Bye Land, Bye Sea
by René Spencer and Rodolfo Montalvo; illus. by Rodolfo Montalvo
Primary    Roaring Brook    40 pp.
4/24    9781250246721    $19.99
e-book ed.  9781250377869    $11.99

Two children embark on a journey together when a girl lands her boat on an island where a boy is stranded. After their initial shock, they start to communicate, the boy in Spanish and the girl in English. They attempt to leave the island by boat, but their plan is foiled by a storm that leaves the girl stranded on the island and the boy lost at sea. She sounds a conch shell as her new friend taught her, which leads the boy back to the island. Spencer and Montalvo’s story explores concepts of forming friendships, building connections, and overcoming the fear of differences. The simple, meaningful text alternates between Spanish and English, exposing readers to both languages, without translations. The die-cut cover features a symbolic overlay of the boy looking through binoculars from the island, while the girl is visible — within his lenses — looking at the island from her boat through her looking glass. Montalvo’s crisp illustrations evoke the sights, scents, and sounds of a tropical island setting. The binoculars and looking glass are cleverly used throughout to indicate the pair’s progression to friendship, and, after a warm culminating gatefold image, to indicate a hopeful ending. NICHOLAS A. BROWN-CÁCERES

The Elephant and the Sea
by Ed Vere; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Doubleday    32 pp.
5/24    9780525580904    $18.99
Library ed.  9780525580911    $21.99
e-book ed.  9780525580928    $10.99

In a rousing adventure dedicated to the author’s grandfather, who “sailed the seven seas,” readers meet Gabriel, an elderly elephant who lives with his sea cat, Milou. Gabriel, whose face has “as many lines as the sea has waves,” lives by the harbor, remembering the old days. Vere then rewinds the clock to visit Gabriel’s boyhood, during which he revered the crew of creatures who worked on the lifeboat. (No humans here. All characters are anthropomorphized animals.) They tell Gabriel to return when he’s older, but when he does, he’s too large to fit in the boat. Disappointed but undeterred, he constructs his own lifeboat, built “for strength. Built for him!” In this boat, Gabriel saves a fleet during a disastrous storm. Vivid copper and rose colors dominate the palette, punctuated by cool blues and grays. Vere animates the story with seafaring language (“Heave away, haul away, heave-ho, heave-HO!”) and bustling verbs (“The wind whipped and whistled. The waves turned into giants, tumbling, lashing, and crashing”). Vere describes Gabriel’s determination to build a boat that can carry him as “an important thought…There is only one thing I want to do…So I will do it!” The gentle reminder to readers to pursue their passions, no matter the odds against them, makes this endearing tale an inspiring one. JULIE DANIELSON

From the August 2024 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.