Kodoku

Gr 3–5—In 1962, 23-year-old Kenichi Horie set sail from Japan in a 19-foot boat bound for San Francisco, becoming the first person to ever do so alone. This picture book represents that adventure. (An adult book with the same title was written by Horie and published by Tuttle in 1964.) As a young boy, Horie became obsessed with learning the ways of the ocean and sailing, always urged on by the mantra "the wind blows forever across an ocean that never ends." In his spare moments, he learned all he could about winds, sailboats, navigation, and oceanography. He commissioned a shipwright to secretly build a boat to his exact specifications and, when it was done, he loaded it with supplies and set sail. Told in spare, almost poetic narrative, the book only suggests the depth of loneliness, fear, adventure, and challenges he must have faced on this journey. The oil pastel illustrations are vivid, eye-catching, and richly imbued with color.—Maggie Chase, Boise State University, ID