Father, May I Come?

by Peter Spier

In 1687, young Sietze Hemmes helps rescue a vessel foundering off the Dutch coast, and three hundred years later, another Sietze Hemmes takes part in a similar rescue, in parallel stories that explore the themes of heroism and selflessness.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Adventure

20 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Peter Spier has established himself as one of the most gifted illustrators in this county. His Noah's Ark was the 1978 Caldecott Award winner, while The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night was a Caldecott Honor book in 1962. The firs two books in his widely acclaimed Mother Goose Library, London Bridge Is Falling Down! and To Market! To Market! were winner and runner-up respectively for the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. The Erie Canal and Noah's Ark both won Christopher Awards, while Gobble, Growl, Grunt received Honorable Mention in the first Children's Science Book Award program, sponsored by the New York Academy of Science.

Born and educated in Amsterdam, Mr. Spier came to New York in 1952 after serving in the Royal Dutch Navy and working for a number of years as a reporter for Elsevier's Weekly, Holland's largest magazine. He has illustrated over a hundred books and has contributed a series of murals to the H. F. Du Pont Winterthur Museum in Delaware.

Reviews

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spiers is such an awesome illustrator - I don't care what the book is, if he's illustrated it, I'll read it. But I liked this book - is it something about the Dutch? They have this lovely tie-back to personal history, and they bring past and present together in a meaningful but not overly-sentimental way. (Check out Daily Life in Holland in the Year 1566 and you'll see what I mean.) Squirt was not as impressed as I was, but still - kid's books are for Big Kids too!

[Suzanne Manners · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story begins in 1687 when Sietze Hemmes spots a boat in trouble. He alerts his father, and a round-up of rescuers grab their oars. Although Sietze is a hero for noticing the situation and going for help, he isn't allowed to come along for the actual rescue.

Spier shows the same scenario three hundred years later with another boy named Sietze. Of course, the progress of technology and safety measures, make everything so much easier, and this time Sietze gets to come along.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Spicer’s tribute to his nation’s resourcefulness in rescuing seafarers in trouble, paralleling one instance in 1687 with the other in present day. This book is less of a book to read to very young readers and more a resource for those whose topics intersect with the book’s...or those who need to catch up with Spier’s detailed illustrations and engaging perspectives. The book concludes with information about and detailed schematics of the present-day (1993) lifeboat. Also includes a three-dimensional map of the Dutch shoreline with its many harbors, inlets, and channels, along with the sites of shipwrecks.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story of two little boys in different eras spotting distressed ships will probably appeal mostly to kids with a strong interest in boats. There is a lot of technical information and a lot of text. Also the text is arranged in wide blocks that I, at least, found oddly uncomfortable to read. Maybe my eyes are too old!

Not bad, but definitely didn't grab my interest as other Spier books ahve done.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some things change and some things never change. Technological advances make things more efficient.