The Magic Boat by Kit Pearson and Katherine Farris, illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard. PICTURE BOOK. Orca Books, 2019. $20. 9781459814325 BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE Sitting on a beach, a young girl and her grandma enjoy the day. As the days pass, the young girl gets bored but she is too shy to talk to the other kids on the beach. When another girl includes her and they go an imaginary journey on a boat she starts to get the courage to reach beyond her shyness. I love to see a book with a character who struggles with shyness. The books is not heavy-handed with this character trait, instead focusing on the story of imaginary play, but the message of reaching out past one’s shyness works well. Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
