Will I love Boats for Papa?

I admire the elegant simplicity with which the author, Jessixa Bagley, uses a simple tale to evoke quite profound feelings.

The protagonist of this book is Buckley, an anthropomorphic beaver who lives with his mother by the ocean. He misses his father, who is absent for an unexplained reason. To keep alive a connection to his father, Buckley makes boats out of driftwood and sends them off into the surf. Because the boats don’t come back, Buckley believes they are reaching his father. However, at the end of the story, he learns that his boats have all been returning and… show more.

When I first brought Boats for Papa home, my son wanted to read it over and over. He even made his own boats and gave them to us with notes filled with hearts.

Boats for Papa is a sensitive, endearing story written and illustrated by the brilliant Jessixa Bagley. Buckley lives on the water with his mother and collects driftwood to make into boats with messages to send to his deceased father. He believes if the boats don’t come back, they make it to his father.

What I love so much about this story is the sweet relationship of a… show more.

This book isn’t about divorce, but it is about how to be present—right here and right now—and have your heart in two places at once. Buckley (a beaver gorgeously drawn by Jessixa) lives with his mother at the edge of the ocean, where he spends much of his time building boats and setting them to sail. He tucks a note into each boat to his papa, who has been gone for a long time. And when they don’t come back, he knows somewhere, somehow, his papa is receiving them. I love this book so much. It is full of empathy… show more.