It’s no secret that kids love all kinds of vehicles. It doesn’t matter if its cars, trucks, busses, planes, or boats, these moving mechanized giants are a universal source of appeal and for that reason, kids will love Harbor Bound. This new picture book from Disney Hyperion focuses on all types of sailing vessels on their journey home.
Catherine Bailey has written a poem about the types of sailing vessels out at sea and through this story, kids will learn about each one. Some of the words might be new to kids and a glossary is included in the back of the book. Some of them may even be new to parents if they aren’t too familiar nautical terminology. You can use this as a great excuse to expand both of your vocabulary.
The illustrations are provided by Ellen Shi and her watercolors are charming and captivating. In particular, her use of color is really spectacular. There’s texture to the water in the way that she paints, and the reflections captured by the sky evoke strong feelings. The story starts in the morning and takes you through a rough storm, a golden sunset, and nighttime. Each time of day and type of weather feels magical through her artwork.
Harbor Bound is aimed at preschool ages and kids love to seek and find objects in books like these. With so many types of boats, there’s more interactivity than just reading to your child while they look at the pictures. You can make it a game or use it as an educational tool. “Point to the red boat” or “Which of these is a sailboat” are two examples of how this book can be used to reinforce their developmental goals or further their interests in boats by teaching them about all of the different types of sailing vessels.
This charming poem book is highly recommended for any kids with a big interest in boats. Harbor Bound makes for a great bedtime story because it goes through an entire day at sea, but is also a fitting book to read to a child while they take a bath and play with toy boats. Harbor Bound is an all around winner and made me long for a peaceful day on the coast watching ships come and go.