Thursday, March 31, 2011

Boat #60, France (and the Big Blue Boat too!)

My favorite thing about doing this blog is when I scan boat, enlarge it, and then find something I'd never noticed before—in this case, the tiny sailboat. It reminds me of my opening illustration for Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Friday, March 25, 2011

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Monday, March 21, 2011

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Boat #74, French West Africa

French West Africa was a federation of colonies existing from 1895–1958. The federation included the modern day countries of Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Benin, and Niger.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Boat #75, USSR

Man, I sure am glad that winter's almost over. Unfortunately for these guys they seem to have just stumbled on it.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Boat #76, Chile

Here we have Lake Villarrica with the Villarrica Volcano in the background, one of the 10 most active volcanoes in the world.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Friday, March 11, 2011

Boat #80, Jersey

Port Egmont was the first British settlement in the Falkland Islands. The settlement was established in 1765. The expedition left behind a watering hole and a vegetable garden. Sounds pleasant, no?

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Boat #82, USSR

Now that's a stamp!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Boat(s) #83, Ice Sailing in Madison, Wisconsin

Yes, those are sail boats on a frozen lake. This weekend Erin and I had the pleasure of visiting Madison, Wisconsin where, apparently, people are not deterred from their favorite water sports by a little cold weather. Very inspiring. I was in Madison to receive the Charlotte Zolotow Honor Award for the text of A Sick Day for Amos McGee. The Charlotte Zolotow Award winner this year was The Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan. The award is given out annually by the Cooperative Children's Book Center on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. The librarians at the CCBC could not possibly have been kinder and more gracious with their time. Madison is a great town populated by great people (governors and legislators notwithstanding). Head on over to Erin's blog if you'd like to hear a little more about the weekend. Meanwhile, happy ice sailing Madisonites (or is it Madisonians?).

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Boat #86, Greece

You can fit a lot of action into a one inch postage stamp. It's funny to imagine that this battle was drawn at actual size. Tiny men storming a tiny ship.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Boat #90, Turks and Caicos

Well, February is done, and thank goodness for that. Michigan February could be bottled and sold to people looking to sow misery and ill will in the world. But though the dreaded month has ended it may take me a while yet to return to normal, healthy levels of joy, happiness and general enthusiasm. I'm sure a couple days sailing in Turks and Caicos can't hurt.