Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat

Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat by Philip C. Stead
2011

     Jonathan loved the Big Blue Boat harbored at the wharf.  He would take his teddy bear, Frederick, and hold him up high so he could also see the boat.  They would stay at the wharf like that until sunset.  But one day, Frederick was gone. Jonathan's parents told him he was too big for stuffed animals so they had traded Frederick for a toaster, because "toasters are really useful."  "That day Jonathan walked to the old wharf alone."  He decided he had to find Frederick, wherever he was, so he embarked on the adventure of a lifetime as the only passenger and captain of the Big Blue Boat.  Along the way, he collects an interesting cast of passengers: a mountain goat (who helps him when the boat gets stuck on a mountaintop), a retired  circus elephant (because he could use an experienced traveler), and a whale (who helps them when they are about to sink). They even fight off pirates!  The Big Blue Boat and its crew reach a shore where they find an open shop attended by a girl who's holding in her arms none other but Frederick.  She tells them that Frederick is now her best friend and she wouldn't go anywhere without him.  "Jonathan smiled. After all, a big boat needs a big crew."
     Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat is a gorgeous book.  Jonathan's imaginative adventure in search of Frederick will delight young readers and Stead's beautiful illustrations on top of collages offer details for everybody to marvel over.