Lily Leads the Way

Praise

The palette demonstrates just how many shades of blue water can be, and Myers adeptly portrays lots of waves and movement, bringing excitement to a mild body of water such as a harbor. . . . An engaging underdog story that’s likely to float anyone’s boat.

—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Myers’s (Hum and Swish) lusciously brush-stroked oil illustrations combine anthropomorphism (Lily’s deckhouse windows are a pair of bright, eager eyes), marine-scapes with purple-blue waters and creamy foam, and up-close action that’s tense but never scary. Whether readers are old salts or landlubbers, they’ll want to pipe this one aboard.

—Publishers Weekly

Raising your voice, no matter how small it may be, can help and even save those without a voice: that’s the powerful takeaway from this picture book about a plucky little sailboat that saves a flotilla of tall ships . . . . The illustrations, done in oil paints, are stunning and give comic expressiveness to all the vessels. Exhilarating.
—Booklist

The painterly art, with fluid strokes and bold, contrasting colors, along with the playful text and performance-ready noises ensure storytime success, while Lily, so easily overlooked, will make a deeply relatable heroine for little ones. Readers will not only get an education in boat types but bridge types as well.
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Young readers will delight in the illustrations and be pulling for little Lily, perhaps even giving a cheer when she comes through in the end.
—Sailing Magazine

Cheerful. . . This is a satisfying story about how even the smallest among us have something to offer. Matt Myers’ buoyant oil illustrations of the deep blue waves of Lake Superior and rugged green hills of Duluth make us feel like we’re right there.
—The Star Tribune