Sail Away

by Donald Crews

Sail Away It's a perfect day for sailing. Motor under the bridge, putt . . . putt . . . putt past the lighthouse, put up the sails, and whoosh! But watch out for a change in the weather. Seas will swell and waves will crash before you sail back home.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Transport, Storytime, Adventure, Juvenile, Fiction

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Donald Crews (born August 30, 1938) is an American illustrator and writer of children's picture books. In 2015, the American Library Association (ALA) honored him with the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, recognizing his lasting contribution to children's literature. Common subjects of his include modern technology (especially travel vehicles), and childhood memories. His stories often include few humans.

Two of his works were runners-up, or Caldecott Honor Books, for the ALA's annual award for picture book illustration, the Caldecott Medal.

Donald Crews was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1938. He had an older brother, Asa who became Beth Israel Hospital's first African-American intern, and two sisters. His mother worked as a seamstress, and his father worked at the railroad, and several other odd jobs. For the summers he would travel down to rural Florida to stay with his grandmother, who he called "Bigmama". The difference between the big city and the farm caused him to create two, massively different types of art later on in his life.

From a young age, his talent for drawing was encouraged by his family and his teachers. When he got into high school, one of his teachers became a mentor to him, and personally made sure that he got into art school.

He graduated from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City, and married another graduate, graphic artist Ann Jonas.

Crews was drafted into the army in 1963, and sent to Frankfurt, Germany. Their first daughter, Nina was born in Germany, and their second was born a year later in New York. Nina is also an award-winning children's book author.

While in Germany, he worked on several pieces for his portfolio, including the book We Read: A to Z (1967). After several suggestions from friends, he submitted it, and it was published by Harper & Row (now HarperCollins). The book relied on abstract ideas, rather than the clichés that were usually associated with ABC books. One classic example is the entry for the letter C: "Cc, corner: where the yellow is" is illustrated with a yellow square in the far corner of a red page in the book.

He created several other books over the next few years, but it was 1978's Freight Train that won him a Caldecott Honor and the respect of other artists in the field. He won another Caldecott Honor the next year for Truck. Several other transportation themed books followed, such as School Bus (1984), Flying (1986), and Sail Away (1995). His memories from his summers in Florida first appeared in Bigmama's and later in Shortcut. These stories are vastly different from his previous works, in that they focus on humans, and tell a more linear story.

Crews and his wife currently live in the state of New York in an old, restored farmhouse overlooking the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains.

Reviews

[Heidi Burkhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book. It made me feel envious of people who grew up sailing.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am always a fan of Donald Crews' picture books, but this one not so much. The illustrations are not his usual graphic style, but watercolors. Also the subject matter is not a limited concept as most of his titles are. This is a story of a day on a sailboat that encounters a storm, while not a large amount of detail still not the facets of Crews' work that I like.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the way the water looks.

It seems like a beautiful day for a sail. They row a dinghy to the sailboat mooring and use the boat motor to get the sailboat out beyond the lighthouse. They sail! Then the weather turns bad and then turn around and come back.

Not a lot of words, so it would be good for impatient little ones who are ready to turn the page.

[Rachel Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sail Away takes you on a fun, colorful adventure with a little motorboat. I prefer this one to Truck due to the more artistic storytelling and returning to places seen before at a later time. Sequence and transportation are two subjects that one could address when reading this book.

[Jc · Rating 3 out of 5]

My group of 6 young adult readers loved the book.

[James Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Donald Crews but this wasn’t one of my favorites.

[Samir Kagadkar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Scary when the water starts getting choppy

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sail Away by Donald Crews follows a family's day out sailing. Crews' illustrations were created with Dr. Martin's Concentrated Water Colors applied with brush and airbrush. Crews' pictures convey the action of sailing and the brief storm well. The triangles of sails appear often. My favorite images are rowing out, under the bridge, whoosh, angry seas, calm again, and past the lighthouse.

The text uses onomatopoeia well. Seaside/Nautical/Sailing vocabulary includes row, dinghy, motor, mooring, lighthouse, swell, shorten sails, & port. The story is well told, with the adventure of the storm engaging. This would make a good read-aloud, and the pictures are large enough to use for storytimes. This is recommended for school and public library collections.

For ages 3 to 6, sailboats, sailing, read-aloud, weather, things-that-go, onomatopoeia, shapes, and fans of Donald Crews.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Donald Crews has a really awesome illustrative style that is so simple and clear, but uses wonderfully expressive colors and I'm totally impressed with how his font, its color and sizing make a different to the narrative. This might be my favorite book of his to read aloud because its kind of like an action movie: A boat sets off and then WHOOSH! We're sailing. Oh no! Storm ahead! Ah. flat waters, again. Its so much fun and easy to share that fun with kids through reading and showing them those awesome illustrations.

[Rose Goodwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was descriptive, but short. It has good illustrations. The words in this book could use a vocabulary page because children may not understand what mooring is and other words. The teacher would have to explain what the words meant in order for new readers to understand. This would be a good book to enhance the vocabulary of readers, but it probably should be done before reading so the book is enjoyable. If you like sailing and the ocean, then you will like this book. This book also describes the weather, so it could be used during science class.

[Mattie Troyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is perfect for any child who wants to learn more about sailing! It is easy to read and follow along with and I think would make for a great lesson in the classroom. It gives a lot of facts for a young child who might want to read a book on sailing. Personally, I was not crazy about this story. I found it a little too short and the illustrations were rather dull. It just was not my style, but I can see why others may enjoy this simple little read. I definitely am interested in reading more books by Donald Crews.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sail Away is the second book by Donald Crews I've had the pleasure to read. Crews specializes in boldly drawn picture books. His book Trucks is one of my children's favorite books.

Sail Away follows a family as they spend the day sailing from the harbor, out to sea and back home that night just as a storm comes ashore. Although it is still a picture book, it is dramatic and full of adventure. There is just something about Crews's illustrations that always manage to suck me into the story.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read at Baby/Toddler Story Time on 6/21/11: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

Read at Baby/Toddler Story Time on 1/10/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

Read at Drop-In Story Time on 9/18/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

Read at drop-in story time on 1/25/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

[Cara Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

The air brushed images are detailed and engaging. The repetition of the text ("putt...putt...putt") combined with the words becoming part of the illustration's movement (whooshing wind) help to express the mood of the story.

[Michelle White]

I like how this book is written. The wording is good and i like how the author chose his words. I think students would like it, especially students who sail on boats regularly. I got it from the IUS Library.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about sailing. It is well illistrated with colorful pictures, but what I noticed about this book was all the triangles in it. I would use this book to introduce triangles to students. You could have the students point out all the triangles as you read the book aloud.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love Crews! He does so much with his illustrations. He gets in new words like "dinghy", spatial concepts like under, past... The children seemed as taken with the illustrations of the sun setting and the lit lighthouse as I was. Used at PJ and Lap Time programs.

[Lora · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cute little book ! This book about sailing is a great book for kindergarten to use and explore transportation . Donald Crews also wrote the book called "Truck" a Caldecott Honor Book in 1981!

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am finding that I enjoy Donald Crews's work. This is a simple story of a family sailing. First they take a dinghy, then they motor, then they sail. Storms come, adjust sails, take down sails, head for home.

A simple, yet relaxing story. Reminds me of home. Wistful. Nostalgic.

[Cana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mommy says: Accurate description of what it's like to motor out from your mooring, catch the wind and sail. The sailor in our family liked it.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Remember to introduce the author/illustrator by name before reading this dramatic story of few words.

[Ubalstecha]

A little on the boring side.

[Codie Gates · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute book about sailing and surviving a storm. I love the use of onomatopoeias!

[Logan Young]

Very quick read. Story of taking the sailboat out with family. Great illustrations.

[Charles Norris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book about a day of sailing. The illustrations are wonderful and really display the mood of each page.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was cute, although it ends abruptly. I think it could have used one more page between putt putt putt and moored! I like the simple art and simple words.

[Jessie Horcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has great illustrations and could be used to learn about sequences (especially when going out for a sailing trip).

[Elizabeth Smitheram · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sail away is a book about a trip out on the water on a sail boat. This is an extremely easy read and has good pictures to go along with the text.

[Ara Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

good picture book to learn simple vocabulary

[Maxwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

If your child likes sailboats, this is lovely. Otherwise, not my favorite Donald Crews book. We did like the drama of the storm.