All Hands on Deck is a sailing activity book for kids, but it’s very disappointed in the quality of the illustrations and content, says Julia Jones
Everybody on the bridge
Lisette Vos
Adlard Coles, £12.99
As a (former) child on a boat, as a mother and grandmother, I am immediately interested in ways to help children feel involved and informed.
I asked for this title with enthusiasm but I found it disappointing.
Everybody on the bridge is from the Netherlands – a fact that is apparent from the illustrations of locks and bridges – but it seems that neither the author nor the illustrator are sailors.
Otherwise, how could it be that the illustration of a yacht transiting through a lock has all sails out and the wind is blowing the burgee the wrong way?
In fact, if some of the illustrations were intended as a warning to show poor practice, they would be quite effective.
Although the text indicates that children must wear a life jacket or buoyancy aid, none of the drawings include one.
Neither sailboat has sheets or rigging.
Often they don’t have a tiller or rudder either.
It is patronizing for children to assume that they will not notice such things.
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If the idea is to get the young team to correct the mistakes of the illustrator, this should be more clearly stated.
Some of the information written is inadequate or misleading – to suggest that a boat will turn port or starboard by the direction of the propeller changing from clockwise to counterclockwise, rather than the movement of the rudder, is simply wrong (unless this is a misguided attempt to explain the propwalk).
Since steering with a tiller or steering wheel is one of the first things many children can be encouraged to understand and appreciate, this poor explanation seems a shame.
The author’s approach doesn’t encourage meaningful hands-on experience (other than, oddly enough, scrubbing decks).
Common sea sense is narrowly defined as collision avoidance. This is really not enough, even for the youngest children.
As a grandmother, it is seafaring behavior and attitudes that I need my young crew to learn, I will take responsibility for avoiding collisions – although of course I am glad they are using a book like this to understand certain principles.
So while the idea for the book is well-intentioned, the content and execution let it down.
He can’t compete with RYA titles Sailing series (which include activity books) – or a family reading of Swallows and Amazons or Jon Tucker These children series.
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