21st Century Kids: Set Sail for Ocean Adventures

Mona Gilbert, Children's Librarian, Northridge Branch Library,
Kids dress in pirate clothes enjoying seafaring adventures while floating in a dinghy

What could be a better adventure than sailing the high seas? In many stories, the sea and its unpredictability add excitement to a tale. Oceanographer Jacques Yves Cousteau said, “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” Here is a sampling of books for kids who enjoy seafaring adventures.

The poem “Song of the Boat,” is excerpted from Water Sings Blue: Ocean Poems, by Kate Coombs.

Song of the Boat

“Push away from the stillness of the nut-brown land,
from the road that leads to shore.


Push away from the town with its tight tree roots,
from its closed brown shutters and doors.


Push away-heave-ho-from the heavy brown pier,
from its pilings huddled and dull.


For the water sings blue and the sky does, too,
and the sea lets you fly like a gull.”

Set Sail for Ocean Adventures


Book cover for Beyond the Bright Sea
Beyond the Bright Sea
Wolk, Lauren

Book cover for Lalani of the Distant Sea
Lalani of the Distant Sea
Kelly, Erin Entrada

Book cover for Water Sings Blue: Ocean Poems
Water Sings Blue: Ocean Poems
Coombs, Kate

Book cover for Secrets at Sea
Secrets at Sea
Peck, Richard

Book cover for School Ship Tobermory
School Ship Tobermory
McCall Smith, Alexander

Book cover for The Jolly Regina
The Jolly Regina
LaReau, Kara

Book cover for Sailing on the Mayflower
Sailing on the Mayflower
Rusick, Jessica

Book cover for The Race To Sail Around The World
The Race To Sail Around The World
Wittmann, Kelly

Book cover for The Voyage to Magical North
The Voyage to Magical North
Fayers, Claire

Book cover for Race to the Bottom of the Sea
Race to the Bottom of the Sea
Eagar, Lindsay

Book cover for The Turn of the Tide
The Turn of the Tide
Parry, Rosanne


 

 

 

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