Henry sets out to build a boat one day. His dad builds boats in his shed – a treasure trove of timber and tools and big ideas – so Henry collects the hammer and saw and drill and all the things he needs. And he builds his boat, the SS Henry.

That might sound a simple enough picture book story, but Ross Mueller and Craig Smith have taken these bare details and built their own wonderful voyage into Henry’s imagination.

He gets a hammer because “you never know when you might need a hammer” and a drill because “never know when you might need a drill … or a hammer” and so the text grows with his creation. Ross Mueller’s words rollick along with busy Henry. Sometimes they are serious, sometimes joking, sometimes poetic, depending where Henry is up to in his work. They are perfect for reading aloud, sometimes very loud!

Craig Smith’s pictures are brilliant. He uses one of his favourite techniques on many pages, looking down on the scene from above. But he balances this angle with close-ups of the important points in the story – Henry seriously at work, the boat discovering the water. The facial expressions, particularly, of Henry, his dragooned sister and eventually his dad, capture the feeling and imagination that takes the SS Henry from an idea to reality.

Adults will read this story and see the innocent and absolute confidence of a child. Children will read it and think “I can do that!” This story is for all the Henrys of the world, for whom everything is possible.

As it should be!
 

Review by David Beagley

© 2006 David Beagley