Review of "Luke's Sailing Adventure" by Tuula Pere

Score: 91+/100 (9.1+ out of 10)

What kinds of bright ideas did you have as a kid?
Did you have a false sense of invincibility growing up?

Did you race down a hill with your bike without an exit plan in case the brakes failed?
Did you put a key in a wall outlet to try to see if electricity would actually come out?
Did you jump into the deep end of a pool, overconfident about your abilities to float and swim?

How did we survive as kids?

Chances are, there was someone looking out for us--a loved one who pulled us out of the deep end, tended to our wounds after we hit the bottom, and calmed us after we'd been shocked.

That's what this beautiful children's book seems to explore.

In Luke's Sailing Adventure by Tuula Pere, we rejoin Emma from A Museum Robbery and her little brother, who in this story is named Luke (Emma had a brother named Oliver in the previous book, so we're just choosing to view this as Emma having different siblings rather than an outright continuity error). Luke is optimistic yet anxious about his upcoming summer sailing camp. Who wouldn't be? Imagine being a young boy who hasn't been out to sea (or out on the lake) before, now you're both excited and nervous about the prospect of being out there for a whole camp.

Anyway, it's still spring, so Luke has some time to assuage his uneasy feelings. On top of this, it also happens to be Luke's sixth birthday, and he receives a miniature sailing boat as a gift. While thoughtful, the gift is also a trigger for Luke's anxieties and nervousness about the camp. He also worries that he won't be able to construct the sailing boat correctly and that he may not be able to get it to float or sail properly.

Thankfully, he has a fantastic older sister in Emma, who repeatedly reassures and helps him throughout the book. Emma helps to make sure that Luke's boat floats. She uses engaging language, often getting Luke to cooperate and work with her. The two are a team—a dynamic duo—on top of being siblings.

After getting the boat to float in a pond, Luke becomes increasingly ambitious and imagines floating it down the entire river, following and retrieving it at the other end. In his young, inexperienced, naive mind, there's nothing wrong with this idea and it should work out perfectly.

However, as adult readers, we know the dangers and risks of doing such a thing.

Surprisingly, this book is quite tense and suspenseful! When trying to retrieve his sailboat stuck in the raging water, Luke falls in!

He calls for help and desperately clings for dear life.

Thankfully, Emma's big-sister senses and intuition kick in, and she realizes something isn't right. She naturally comes to Luke's aid.

Now, we'll admit that the resolution of this book and the rescue scene is incredibly brief and almost seems rushed. One moment, Luke is in peril, then on seemingly the same page, Emma helps him and they're sitting side-by-side. It kinda ruins the dramatic tension a bit. Then again, it makes it less scary for kids. You can't have characters in peril for too long, or the kids will truly start to worry.

The illustrations by Dane D'Angeli, who returns from A Museum Robbery, are nice. Emma continues to put across a combination of cuteness and coolness, complete with a rainbow-dyed strand in her hair. Likewise, Luke has a cuteness, coolness, and relatability to him. He looks like an adventurous young man. We can all see our younger selves through him: hopeful, nervous, ambitious, and reckless.

This book really showcases what a great big sister Emma is as she always comforts and looks out for her little brother.

Check it out on Amazon!