Category Archives: Book Reviews

Jan6

TENDER TUESDAYS-PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #33

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TENDER TUESDAYS-PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #33

PACIFIC YACHTING MAGAZINE’S TRIBUTE  to their “COCKPIT CONFESSIONS” CARTOONIST –

                       DAVE ALAVOINE

Returning from an extended sailing trip in August, husband and Prairie Girl opened up their August magazine to discover the five page feature: A TRIBUTE TO LONG – TIME PY ILLUSTRATOR DAVE ALAVOINE! And when you looked in the corner of the front cover, you saw that cheeky little seagull of his, saying, “ABOUT TIME!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave Alavoine has entertained us with his clever cartoons found on Cockpit Confessions since 2005. He is a treasure to all his followers, and Cockpit Confessions will not have the same appeal without Dave’s wit pulling together the humour of the submitted … Read the rest

Aug16

GOOD OLD BOAT NEWSLETTER BOOK REVIEW AUGUST 2017

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GOOD OLD BOAT NEWSLETTER BOOK REVIEW AUGUST 2017

It has happened again! WHO’S the CAPTAIN? has been reviewed by GOOD OLD BOAT’S Newsletter Reviewer, Carolyn Corbett.  I am so thrilled with how she caught the complete essence of this humorous picture book targeted for  boating families, that I just had to share it with you!

GOOD OLD BOAT -August 2017 Newsletter

 

WHO’S THE CAPTAIN?

BY MARY LAUDIEN, ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAVE ALAVOINE (CREATESPACE, 2016; 56 PAGES, PRINT $13.99 USD/$14.99 CDN; EBOOK $7.99)

REVIEW BY CAROLYN CORBETT (LAKE SHORE, MN)

Who’s the Captain? is a 56 page picture book of sailing life according to Dad and his crew. The humor in the text is accentuated by clever, colorful cartoons. Older kids who are familiar with the ins and outs

… Read the rest
Aug7

Pacific Yachting Magazine (08/17) Book Review: WHO’S the CAPTAIN?

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Pacific Yachting Magazine (08/17) Book Review: WHO’S the CAPTAIN?

 

Imagine Prairie Girl’s delight when she opened up her August copy of PACIFIC YACHTING MAGAZINE and found a half page BOOK REVIEW of WHO’S the CAPTAIN?  it embraced the magic of the collaboration between David Alavoine (PY’s cartoonist/ COCKPIT CONFESSIONS page) and myself in creating a humorous book that would appeal to all members of sailing/boating families.

Both storyteller and illustrator must have been synced closely during this collaboration, as Alavoine’s cartoons seem to mirror so closely the mood of each of Laudien’s vignettes.

There’s something to resonate here for every sailor- or sailor wannabe, I’m betting. Laudien has fun with some of the curious and puzzling nautical terms and how they can be misconstrued, with family dynamics, and

… Read the rest
Jun28

WHO’S the CAPTAIN? BOOK REVIEW in 48° North Magazine

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WHO’S the CAPTAIN? BOOK REVIEW in 48° North Magazine

DO YOU HAVE YOUR COPY OF WHO’S the CAPTAIN? ABOARD to SHARE with YOUR KIDS/GRANDKIDS?

It is just too rewarding to see sailing magazines and yacht clubs embracing WHO’S the CAPTAIN?  They are always so immediate with their response and wanting to share the book with their boating families. It’s the time of year that young sailors are taking sailing lessons and boarding family sailboats for sailing vacations.  What a perfect book to have on board! (Okay, I, the author of this little gem may be just a little biased, but as a former innovative educator I know what an engaging book this is.)

As Cherie Thiessen (Pacific Yachting’s Book Reviewer) stated,

“There’s something to resonate here for every sailor

… Read the rest
Mar20

TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES – #12

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TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES – #12

WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE HAVE TO FINISH EQUIPPING OUR NEW BOAT?                               (…AND WHERE’S THE HEAT?)

 

Call Prairie Girl naive, but she was incredulously baffled when husband announced that there would be several expensive purchases to be made in order to completely outfit their brand new Catalina 28 Mark 11 Anniversary Edition. Prairie Girl just assumed that their DREAM BOAT was loaded to the max- complete with an anniversary plaque, a wooden hull to mount on their wall at home, a set of Catalina dishes, upgraded upholstery and blinds, a bimini and sunbrella protectors for the windows… What did husband mean when he said it wasn’t completely outfitted with everything necessary?

Prairie Girl can visualize her readers nodding their … Read the rest

Nov28

TENDER TUESDAYS

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TENDER TUESDAYS

SILVER LINING in WHO’S the CAPTAIN?

BOOK LAUNCH

THE BOOK LAUNCH DAYDREAM VERSUS REALITY

You can imagine it, can’t you? The venue chosen is unique, as the perfect spot for drawing the niche of people for which one’s book was written. (MARTIN MARINE –so ideal as a long established North Shore family business that boaters frequent.) It’s in a community that both the author and illustrator had lived in and sailed from, as contributors for many years. Thus, a full house of familiar faces was anticipated coming through the door to share in the celebration of their book. Perfect! Right? (Reality Check: Perfect on a sunny spring day- YES! Maybe not so perfect on a cold, … Read the rest

Nov23

IT’S a BOOK LAUNCH in a MARINE STORE!

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IT’S a BOOK LAUNCH in a MARINE STORE!

HEAD– It’s the BOAT TOILET, okay?

FINALLY! A FAMILY SAILING BOOK that cracks the code of nautical terms through humourous cartoons and a cheeky glossary! Mary Laudien, a fourth time B.C. children’s author and former Principal of West Bay and Cypress Park, has just released, WHO’S the CAPTAIN? Anyone who has ever sailed or cruised with kids aboard will relate to the cartoons and reminiscing of those adventures on the water will be inevitable!

mary-anim-character

Mary didn’t start sailing until her late forties, missing out on the fun of cruising with her sons, as children. Many of her school families had extraordinary sailing adventures to share with her. As she cruised the Pacific NW on their Catalina … Read the rest

Nov10

AHOY ALL BOATING FAMILIES!

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AHOY ALL BOATING FAMILIES!

A BOOK LAUNCH & SIGNING EVENT

at

MARTIN MARINE

WHO’S the CAPTAIN?

FINALLY! A FAMILY SAILING BOOK that cracks the code of nautical terms through humorous cartoons and a sassy glossary!  A delightful and recognizable story for any family that sails together.

– Written by Mary Laudien, a 4th time B.C. children’s author and former Principal of West Bay and Cypress Park.
– Cartoons by the talented, Dave Alavoine of Pacific Yachting Magazine’s COCKPIT CONFESSION.
whos_the-_captain_cover-336widejpg-1 

DATE: Saturday, November 26th

TIME: 12:30 – 2:00

LOCATION: Martin Marine Services Ltd., 1176 Welch Street, North Vancouver

BOOK PRICE: only $14.99 CDN. ($13.99 USD)

For more information go to: https://www.marylaudien.com or email: mlaudien@outlook.com

DRAWS during the launch program… even

… Read the rest
Nov8

TENDER TUESDAYS

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TENDER TUESDAYS

WHO’S the CAPTAIN? BOOK LAUNCH & SIGNING in a Marine Store!

Mary Laudien has been a super engaged author these days! She and Dave Alavoine are busy preparing for their BOOK LAUNCH of WHO’S the CAPTAIN?  The event will be held at Martin Marine  (1176 Welch Street in North Vancouver) on Saturday, Nov. 26th from 12:30pm-2:00pm. Martin Marine is the PERFECT venue to launch their nautical book, as a long established North Shore ‘family business for boating families’.

Dave Alavoine is a long term North Shore resident, sailor, sailboat builder, former British Merchant Marine…and most importantly, Pacific Yachting Magaizine’s nautical cartoonist! Mary Laudien is a  4th time B.C. children’s author and the former proud principal of West Bay and

… Read the rest
Oct28

FUN KIDLIT FRIDAYS

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FUN KIDLIT FRIDAYS

WHO’S the CAPTAIN? is FINALLY AVAILABLE!

What is FUN KIDLIT FRIDAYS?

It’s a Picture Book/ Middle Grade Book Review post that will be shared every other Friday.  I intended to start this much sooner, but publishing WHO’S the CAPTAIN? seemed to take over my life for the last year.  Now that it’s finally available, I can start posting regularly the picture books and early novels that I cherished reading with students when I was a teacher/principal in West Vancouver schools.  I know many of you are always seeking out worthwhile, entertaining reads for you to share with your kids or grand-kids.  That’s the purpose of FUN KIDLIT FRIDAYS... to introduce you to KIDLIT that’s FUN! I‘ll … Read the rest