This is a quirky, detailed and imaginative book presented in a rollicking cartoon style. It uses a chicken called Hope and a ship called Courage as an analogy for coping with what the world throws at you and being prepared for the worst while hoping for the best.
Hope sets out on her sea voyage feeling queasy. She soon loses her bearings, changes direction and becomes very tired. But brave Hope still copes with what life on the ocean throws, at least until a terrible storm strikes. Always hopeful, she thinks it will pass, but when her boat begins to leak, creak, groan and pitch, Hope realises that she is in trouble.
No amount of pretending everything is okay can help Hope, as Courage starts to break up under her. Hope and Courage part company and the bedraggled chicken is left to drift on the waves. Against the odds, she washes up on a tiny island. Determined not to give up, Hope gathers Courage about her, creating a raft from the wreckage of her ship, and then sails bravely off beyond the horizon.
The colourful cartoon-style illustrations in gouache, watercolours and coloured pencils on paper provide melodrama, humour and lots of interesting details for readers to pore over in this engaging fable about resilience and the importance of having both hope and courage, no matter what.
Picture Books for Older Readers
