Books For Keeps
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Articles
  • Past Issues
  • Latest Issue
  • Authors and Artists
  • Latest News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
November 5, 2015/in Picture Book 8-10 Junior/Middle /by Angie Hill
BfK Rating:
BfK 215 November 2015
Reviewer: Jill Bennett
ISBN: 978-1406361636
Price: £20.19
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd
Genre: Picture Book
Age Range: 8-10 Junior/Middle
Length: 64pp
Buy the Book

The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower

Author: P J Lynch

This first person narrative account is a much longer than normal picture book text wherein young lad, John Howland tells how he left England along with other Pilgrims, and as a servant, sets sail on board the Mayflower for the New World. There they were hoping to find a fresh start and freedom to worship in their own way. “You will find sir,” he tells the first mate Bob Coppin, “that we are civil people and we hope to give no offence to God or man. We hope only for a measure of civility in return.”

Little did he realize that he was about to embark upon an adventure of a lifetime as the ship finally leaves port. A few weeks out from Plymouth, John is washed overboard during a wild ocean storm ‘Down and down I went into the darkness under the icy waves It was quiet down there, no raging wind or rain like up above’ he says.

But by enormous good fortune, he is miraculously saved and what we are shown in a wonderfully scary, almost spectral underwater scene is the boy reaching out for a rope above which, just visible, is the ship’s keel. Although John survives the journey, others are less fortunate, dying from fever on board the ship. Once land is finally reached, (not where they’d hoped to end up), the travellers find themselves in an alien environment: harsh winter weather, lack of food, illness and hostility between them and the native people were among the challenges that contributed to the decimation of their number but finally with the coming of spring, things improve. Peace is made and at this point, the idea of Thanksgiving is introduced into the narrative.

The whole thing is masterfully and precisely told in short chapters and with  meticulous detail, verbal and visual, transporting readers back into early 17th-century England and America with enormous success. Those watercolour and gouache illustrations are both stunning and at times – take for instance the scene where the newly arrived are watched by the ‘native people’ from the menacingly shadowy woods – unnerving.

This is artist Lynch’s first book as both writer and illustrator; seemingly his voice is as powerful as his illustration.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png 0 0 Angie Hill http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png Angie Hill2015-11-05 18:02:002021-07-13 17:03:10The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower

Search for a specific review

Author Search

Search







Generic filters




Filter by Member Types


Book Author

Download BfK Issue Bfk 272 May 2025
Skip to an Issue:

About Us

Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.

Read More

Follow Us

Latest News

‘Exceptionally talented illustrators’ Shortlist announced for the 2025 Klaus Flugge Prize

May 15, 2025

Next stop Shakespeare’s Globe – finalists of Poetry By Heart competition 2025 announced

May 8, 2025

School Library Association announces Information Book Award longlist and new nationwide Book Club

May 7, 2025

Contact Us

Books for Keeps,
30 Winton Avenue,
London,
N11 2AT

Telephone: 0780 789 3369

ISSN: 0143-909X (this is our International Standard Serial Number).

© Copyright 2025 - Books For Keeps | Proudly Built by Lemongrass Media - Web Design Buckinghamshire
I Will Love You Anyway An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Mythical Creatures
Scroll to top