Stormy Sailing

Books

Stormy Sailing

Author

Tuula Pere

Illustrator

Catty Flores

Stormy Sailing follows Liban, a child whose family keeps moving because their homeland is unsafe. When the family is split across dangerous waters, courage, imagination, and love become tools for survival and hope.
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Books

Watching Liban and his dad gather scraps and somehow turn them into something that could carry them across the sea was oddly hopeful. It was messy and desperate, but it was also kind of beautiful.

What I loved most about this picture book is how real it felt. Liban isn’t some larger-than-life hero, he’s just a kid trying to be brave.

The writing is simple but powerful. It doesn’t waste words, which makes every moment hit harder.

— Literary Titan

You can't be the shelter of the world, but you can help to alleviate the suffering in the world. It doesn't need to be either/or. Few books present this better than Stormy Sailing.

Tuula Pere doesn’t try to offer solutions to war, nor does she moralize or politicize the suffering. Instead, she offers something more powerful: empathy. Through gentle prose and heartfelt imagery, she invites us to see the world through the eyes of a child who has never known peace, who has never had a home, and yet who dares to dream of one.

Pere is no stranger to presenting us with heart wrenching children's books like The Only Blue Crow (exploring loneliness and depression) and even books that explore terminal illness like the Welcome Home Pearl series and The Shoemaker's Lamp. Yet, somehow this hits differently. This cuts differently.

— Outstanding Creator

It's the ideal story to show kids, particularly those in safe countries, that not everyone has an easy life, and some spend their lives fleeing from danger, never settling in one place for too long. It's an eye-opener and will hopefully help children build compassion for others.

Stormy Sailing by Tuula Pere is an amazing story of survival against the odds. Beautifully illustrated by Catty Flores, it tells the story of a family searching for safety.

Beautifully illustrated by Catty Flores, it tells the story of a family searching for safety.

— Anne-Marie Reynolds, Readers’ Favorite

Watching Liban and his dad gather scraps and somehow turn them into something that could carry them across the sea was oddly hopeful. It was messy and desperate, but it was also kind of beautiful.

What I loved most about this picture book is how real it felt. Liban isn’t some larger-than-life hero, he’s just a kid trying to be brave.

The writing is simple but powerful. It doesn’t waste words, which makes every moment hit harder.

— Literary Titan

You can't be the shelter of the world, but you can help to alleviate the suffering in the world. It doesn't need to be either/or. Few books present this better than Stormy Sailing.

Tuula Pere doesn’t try to offer solutions to war, nor does she moralize or politicize the suffering. Instead, she offers something more powerful: empathy. Through gentle prose and heartfelt imagery, she invites us to see the world through the eyes of a child who has never known peace, who has never had a home, and yet who dares to dream of one.

Pere is no stranger to presenting us with heart wrenching children's books like The Only Blue Crow (exploring loneliness and depression) and even books that explore terminal illness like the Welcome Home Pearl series and The Shoemaker's Lamp. Yet, somehow this hits differently. This cuts differently.

— Outstanding Creator

It's the ideal story to show kids, particularly those in safe countries, that not everyone has an easy life, and some spend their lives fleeing from danger, never settling in one place for too long. It's an eye-opener and will hopefully help children build compassion for others.

Stormy Sailing by Tuula Pere is an amazing story of survival against the odds. Beautifully illustrated by Catty Flores, it tells the story of a family searching for safety.

Beautifully illustrated by Catty Flores, it tells the story of a family searching for safety.

— Anne-Marie Reynolds, Readers’ Favorite

Editorial Review Quotes

★★★★★ (5/5)

Watching Liban and his dad gather scraps and somehow turn them into something that could carry them across the sea was oddly hopeful. It was messy and desperate, but it was also kind of beautiful.

— Literary Titan

What I loved most about this picture book is how real it felt. Liban isn’t some larger-than-life hero, he’s just a kid trying to be brave.

— Literary Titan

The writing is simple but powerful. It doesn’t waste words, which makes every moment hit harder.

— Literary Titan

Score | 
94+/100

You can't be the shelter of the world, but you can help to alleviate the suffering in the world. It doesn't need to be either/or. Few books present this better than Stormy Sailing.

— Outstanding Creator

Tuula Pere doesn’t try to offer solutions to war, nor does she moralize or politicize the suffering. Instead, she offers something more powerful: empathy. Through gentle prose and heartfelt imagery, she invites us to see the world through the eyes of a child who has never known peace, who has never had a home, and yet who dares to dream of one.

— Outstanding Creator

Pere is no stranger to presenting us with heart wrenching children's books like The Only Blue Crow (exploring loneliness and depression) and even books that explore terminal illness like the Welcome Home Pearl series and The Shoemaker's Lamp. Yet, somehow this hits differently. This cuts differently.

— Outstanding Creator

★★★★★ (5/5)

It's the ideal story to show kids, particularly those in safe countries, that not everyone has an easy life, and some spend their lives fleeing from danger, never settling in one place for too long. It's an eye-opener and will hopefully help children build compassion for others.

— Anne-Marie Reynolds, Readers’ Favorite

★★★★★ (5/5)

Stormy Sailing by Tuula Pere is an amazing story of survival against the odds. Beautifully illustrated by Catty Flores, it tells the story of a family searching for safety.

— Anne-Marie Reynolds, Readers’ Favorite

★★★★★ (5/5)

Beautifully illustrated by Catty Flores, it tells the story of a family searching for safety.

— Anne-Marie Reynolds, Readers’ Favorite

Presentation

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