Paper Boats

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A boy writes his name and village on paper boats and floats them down a stream, in the hope that ``someone in some strange land will find them and know who I am.'' Written around the turn of the century by Nobel Prize-winner Tagore, the unassuming poem has an air of serenity aptly matched by the delicate cut-paper illustrations. Although this technique allows a pleasing precision in the sharpness of its images, the result is a series of static spreads that do little to enhance the verse. Bochak's range of colors--from the yellows of summer to the muted pinks and violets of a sultry night--is unusual, though some of the book's later illustrations tend toward drabness. The word pictures here, while graceful, are too passive and sophisticated for the intended audience--speaking of his boats, the narrator says, ``The fairies of sleep are sailing in them, / and the lading is their baskets / full of dreams.'' An unrewarding outing. Ages 2-8. (Jan.)

School Library Journal

K-Gr 4-- Elegant paper cutouts perfectly complement this poem by India's Nobel prize winner. Originally published in Tagore's Crescent Moon (Asia Book Corp., 1988), it is a first-person narration of a child who day after day writes his name and the name of his village on paper boats. He sails them down the stream, hoping that someone in a strange land will find them and learn of their creator. Against skies of the palest orange of dawn, then pink, magenta, and finally the rich purples and blues of dusk, the illustrations show a boy launching his boats and dreaming at water's edge, with a rabbit, monkey, and peacocks nearby. The three-dimensional effect, created through shadow and the use of textured paper and color washes, is so striking that readers will want to grasp the string of the paper boats and pull it out of the pages. With its classic simplicity and universal theme, this is a fine mood piece to read aloud. --Diane S. Marton, Arlington County Library, VA