"We are all going to make a trip... to a little island and take a picnic", 4 March 2016

This review is from: Uncle Blue's New Boat (Hardcover)
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When Uncle Blue tries to cheer up the Aunts and Peter and Lotta after they find a dead swallow, who could have guessed that his idea could lead to such adventure? A trip in his new rowing boat to an island for a picnic starts off a great success (love the picture of the aunts' bonnets hanging on a fir tree while they make tea!) But when the adults take a nap and the children take the boat out alone - and lose the oars - the Aunts and Uncle Blue find themselves camping out for the night...
Not quite the magic of 'Peter & Lotta's Christmas', but a lovely tale with Elsa Beskow's enchanting illustrations (note: this story doesn't have the silhouette pictures that feature in her other tales.) ( )

Originally published in 1942 as Farbror Blås nya båt, this fourth adventure featuring the irrepressible Peter and Lotta - the first three titles in which they appeared were Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender (1918), Aunt Brown's Birthday (1925), and Peter and Lotta's Adventure (1929), while the fifth and final one was Peter and Lotta's Christmas (1947) - has all the humour and hi-jinks one would expect from these wonderful characters. When Peter and Lotta are downcast at the death of a sparrow, Uncle Blue suggests that they all have a picnic, taking his new boat and rowing the children and their adoptive aunts out to a nearby island. But then Peter and Lotta, determined to prove their skill as rowers, take the boat while the adults are having a post-prandial nap, and end up having to be rescued by a barge. Now the children find themselves borne off to a nearby town, while the adults are trapped on the island...

Every bit as entertaining as the other tales of Peter and Lotta, Uncle Blue's New Boat had me chuckling on more than one occasion, and I imagine many young readers will be likewise amused. From Aunt Lavender's horror of the cows, who must be cleared off before she will wade back to shore, to Uncle Blue's embarrassment at being confronted by a curious mob when he comes to fetch the children, there are plenty of those 'adults in an undignified situation' scenes that Beskow is so skilled at creating. There is also plenty of 'children off on their own' adventuring, and the combination of the two makes for a tale that child readers will appreciate. The artwork, as is always the case with Beskow, is lovely, with each two-page spread featuring a full-page colour illustration on the right, and text on the left. I did miss the black and white silhouette illustrations to be found in some of the other titles in this series, but leaving that aside, I found this an immensely appealing little volume, aesthetically speaking. Although not the final title to feature Peter and Lotta, this is the last one on my 'to-read' shelf, and I am very glad to have completed the collection. Taken as a whole (and individually), the story of Peter and Lotta is an appealing one, and highly recommended to those readers looking for tales of childhood adventure that are both entertaining and reassuring. ( )