Mabel and Sam at Home by Linda Urban and Hadley Hooper

Mabel and her brother Sam are clearly in the midst of a move. 

Just like we have been! Which explains the lack of involvement on the blog. All that packing and cleaning and cleaning and unpacking takes a lot of time.

Fortunately, they have a limitless imagination

But mostly Mabel. Sam is a little skeptical of his big sister and her imaginings. Just like little brothers generally are. 

I love how the illustrations show the movement from reality to imagination.

After sailing for some time, Sam starts to wonder about getting back on land. Mabel warns him of the danger. 

But the siren call of the pizza delivery guy decides things. 

"They might be dangerous," said Captain Mabel. 

"Starving might be dangerous too," said First Mate Sam. 

Little brothers are so hard to control. 

First Mate Same did not hear.

He was already heading for land, "ahoying" at the inhabitants.

In the second mini-story in this book, Mabel is a tour guide, giving Sam an up close view of important things. 

Most of the things Tour Guide Mabel point out happen to be about her. 

"This is the famous table where the Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Sandwich was invented," said Mabel. 

"I eat those," said Sam.

"Yes," said Mabel. "But you at them second. Museums are about people who do things first."

 Being second is just no good Sam. 

Sam gets his own back though when he makes a unilateral decision to eat the "...Ancient Frosted Pitty-Pat of Calimari. The last one of its kind."

"And I am the first to discover it," said Sam. 

In the last story in the book, Mabel and Sam embark on a space odyssey just before bed. 

I love Sam. 

Then, the bold astronauts are made to head to bed. Even with alien noises echoing around. Or  maybe that is just Mr. Woofie who needs to go out. 

And then, a cozy, sleepy night in their new house. I adore cozy inside family scenes. They are just so... nice. And niceness is a rare quality in this world. 

Michael Sails the Mud Hen by Peggy and Gordon Aymar & Illus by Robert Smith

This is a neat little book about sailing. It is called a "story-guide" on the title page. It is the story of Michael and his little brother Tim as they learn to sail. Gordon Aymar was an accomplished sailor with a few sailing books under his belt, when he and his wife teamed up for this book. This is actually based on an old abandoned boat Peggy and Gordon Jr. found when Jr was seven. 

Here sit Michael and Tim. And if that isn't a picture of summer boredom, I don't know what is. 

Meeting Captain Harry

When they are poking around the marshes, they find the Mud Hen. The man who owns the property says it isn't his boat, it just drifted up there, so they are welcome to her.

Captain Harry takes Michael and Tim on, to teach them to sail. 

First, they start with rowing. 

I love these nautical diagrams. 

Every good sailor needs to know a few knots.

Michael on his maiden rowing journey.

Bailing out the Mud Hen after a storm.

Another storm.

They graduate to sailing!

LOVE

I also love this. So 1960's vacationing housewife.

Michael gets to try out the rudder.

After some close observation and practice with Captain Harry, he lets them go up the inlet by themselves for practice.

Finally, Michael is approved for open bay sailing. The sheet breaks, but Michael handles it quite well.

And sails into harbor safe and sound.

This is a pretty good learning book. Some books are so heavy on the learning, they forget the plot, making them very heavy handed and clumsy. This one is quite a pleasant mix of plot and pointers.