Nautical fi ction for children
Ben Catton: reader and Optimist racer
at a recent regatta in Auckland
FINAL THOUGHT
What all of these books provide is the
ability for our children to live vicariously
through these seafaring characters and
hence give them a yearning to get out
there exploring and adventuring. As the
children explain to a new friend in We
Daren’t Go A’ Hunting, “Stay with us
and you won’t be bored. You may be
seasick or shipwrecked or drowned or
lost or burned or killed by falling over a
cliff, but you won’t be bored.”adversity. It is a great combination of
sailing lore, adventure, gentle humour and
encouragement.
Watson acknowledges Ransome in her
book, initially drawing on the Swallows and
Amazons fi lm as a device to overcome the
constraints of Josh’s dyslexia and give
him some motivation for his reading.
What’s also interesting in this novel (and
the other titles) is the use of jargon. Typically
jargon can distract us from the story or
frustrate us because we don’t know exactly
what’s going on, or slow us down because
we have to look up every other word.
Stories about sailors, ships and the sea,
however, need the technical terminology to
help establish the authentic atmosphere,
and in most cases it does exactly that
whether you know the terms or not.
Ben Catton (far
right) and Optimist
sailing friends:
(from left) Hayden
Chisholm, Jonty
Leech, Miro
Luxford and Will
LeechSOME FURTHER
TITLES■And the ocean was our sky- Patrick Ness
■Time Riders: The Pirate Kings - Alex Scarrow
■The Huntress: Sea – Sarah Driver
■Brotherband series: Vol 7 The
Caldera – John Flanagan
What nautical fi ction would you
recommend for children?
Email us: [email protected]
Kensuke’s
Kingdom by
Michael
Morpurgo
Beloved by children,
teachers and parents
alike, Michael
Morpurgo’s prolifi c
output never fails to
please. The book
starts with a
wonderful lulling into a false sense of
security, with Michael setting off on a boat
with his Mum, Dad, and dog Stella Artois
for an adventure of a lifetime. “This is it!
This is what life should be!” But calamity
quickly strikes, and Michael is washed up
on an island in the Pacifi c, and struggles
to survive on his own. With no food and
no water, he thinks that there is no hope.
This is when he meets Kensuke, a
Japanese man, and that hope is restored.
Although the sailing is only part of this
novel, it is a remarkable take of survival
against all odds, set against the dramatic
backdrop of the Pacifi c and recalling
memories of the World War II.
Miro Luxford, 11, says: “It
was a bit like a modern day
Robinson Crusoe story. I
liked reading about the
island and the maps in the
front of the book were really
cool. I even learnt some Japanese reading
this book!”Strong Winds – a
series by Julia
Jones
The Salt-Stained
Book is the fi rst of a
series, currently of
six. The main
character is Donny, a
fatherless 13-14 year
old who has been
brought up by his
grandmother. She has died and he and
his deaf, profoundly dyslexic, mother are
struggling to cope on their own. All the
action begins beside the River Orwell,
where Arthur Ransome lived in the late
1930s. Donny rapidly fi nds himself in a
foster home with various interesting
characters. Jones targets a teenage
readership as she tackles social issuessuch as poverty, abuse of power and
immigrant exploitation in her books. Early
on Donny discovers he has a natural
sailing ability and lovely Arthur Ransome
references are introduced as two Nancy
and Peggy characters almost steal our
sympathy. The fi nal chapters become
beautifully vivid with an exciting on-the-
water adventure and a rather breathless
encounter with a Missee Lee character
literally single-handing her junk into the
adventure. Jones’ last three books (The
Lion of Sole Bay, Black Waters and
Pebble) work well as standalone
adventure stories with stronger sailing
themes than the fi rst three. These books
are certainly worth exploring for young
adult readers with plenty of gusto.Shetland Sailing
series by Marsali
Taylor
Although not
intended for
children, teenagers
seem to be
thoroughly enjoying
Marsali’s novels.
Main character Cass
Lynch is a fantastic
role model for young girls – she’s smart,
sassy, and independent. Throughout
these crime novels (which don’t have to
be read in order) she’s got herself out of a
burning ship, a Neolithic tomb, and a
witches’ coven among others. Being a
sailor, she can untie ropes anyone’s
stupid enough to bind her with, even
behind her and in the dark, and she can
cope with adversity, such as cutting her
boat loose in a gale and taking an
unscheduled swim in March waters... oh,
and solving several murders along the way.
“There’s more description than is usual in
young adult reading, so I’d recommend
them more for 14+ readers who are just
starting to tackle
adult books,” says
Marsali. “I would
suggest perhaps
starting with A
Handful of Ash, then
moving on to Death
in Shetland Waters,
set aboard the
Norwegian tall ship
Sorlander.”