I Want a Boat!

On this book's title page, a child with a mop of red hair and dot eyes finds a wooden box among garbage outside and drags it indoors. "I have a box. I want a boat," writes Scanlon (Thank You, Garden), and the child's imagination does the rest. A rudder appears, and a green sail. With the boat sorted, the adventure needs getting: "I have a sail. I want the sea!" results in ocean waves lapping at the bedroom rug, witnessed by a small crew of stuffed animals. Soon underway, the sailor is accompanied by a friendly sea turtle, a striped fish, and three stuffed animals to serve as the crew. Atteberry (Ghost Cat) creates a toy-box world of soft forms, scribble-shadowed waves, and swirling breezes. When "I have the sky. I want a storm" conjures a tempest that blows the crew overboard, the child's surroundings-shaping power makes it reasonably easy to restore calm. The draw of the story is the young protagonist's ability to brings needs to life via imagination--power that Scanlon emphasizes with the punch of repeating, easily memorized prose. Ages 4-6. Agent (for Scanlon and Atteberry): Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary. (June)