Ferryboat

Ferryboat

Author/Illustrator: Betsey & Giulio Maestro
Genre: Historial Fiction
Awards: NA
Age Level: 4-8 years old

Summary: The ferry on the crossing the river at Chester is a popular place to be, talking cars and trucks across the river daily. As families cross the river, they park their cars on the top deck and step outside to watch the duck families paddle by. The author describes the feeling of standing on the ferry, vibrating and humming as water lightly sprays on the passengers' faces. When the captain pulls up to the other side of the river, families hurry back to their cars and the ferry glides into the dock. The reader learns toward the end of the book the historical correlation that the ferry has to America.
This story is about a Ferry that began operating in 1969 called the Chester-Hadlyme. The ferry was renamed Warner's Ferry because of the owner. Warner's Ferry connected the King's Highway in Fort Hill, Parish of Chester in Saybrook, to the Norwich Road in Lyme. During the years of the Revolutionary War, the ferry was a used to transport supplies. The Chester-Hadlyme Ferry is the second oldest ferry in service to this day.

Illustrations: Illustrations seem to be colored through the use of water paint. Lively and colorful pictures were drawn for each page. My favorite page was the pink, purple, and green sunset. It encompassed two whole pages and filled the tone of the book with calamity and peace.

In my classroom, I would like to share this book before a break such as spring break or summer when the students tend to be traveling the most. Hopefully, after reading this book, they will become even more excited about their trip and get rid of and fears or hesitations about riding on a boat.