Summer Literature: Paddle-to-the-Sea

There are a lot of great book lists out there. This summer we've been making our way through some of them. This week we had the opportunity to read Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling C. Holling. It's a sweet story paired with lots of great geography. We discussed the book and traced the boat's travels on the map. We then watched the Oscar-nominated short film. I think I'm enjoying reading some of these books for the first time just as much as my kids. I'm a sucker for a great happy ending. I told them they could type their reactions onto my blog (which they thought needed more color, apparently).

Their basic summary of the book:
Paddle-to-the-Sea was a tiny canoe made by an Indian boy in Nipigon Country, Canada. The boy wanted it to sail to the sea. It had to go through five Great Lakes: Huron, Superior, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario. It sailed over Niagara Falls and through the St. Lawrence River to the North Atlantic Ocean. It even ended up in France!
DD5's thoughts:

     “I felt happy for Paddle at the end, because he made his adventure all through and kept his courage.”

     “I liked the book better because it showed all of where Paddle went but the movie just showed only parts until the lighthouse at the sea.”

DD8's thoughts:

     “I liked everything. I liked when he made it to the Soo Locks. I liked the ending because the Indian boy found out that his boat made it all the way to the sea.”

     “I liked the movie because it had details, closed captioning, and it was short.”