Set in ancient Peru, there is a village of miniature people who lead a peaceful life sailing and fishing. But when the Spanish invade, the little community has to find a new home. The intrepid fishermen transform an old tea kettle into a ship and set out on the high seas to find the land 'beyond the horizon.' They dodge ferocious iguanas, crash onto reefs, and nearly sink in a terrible storm, but finally the kettle comes to rest on a strange new land the little Peruvians can call home. Robert Ingpen has vividly captured this modern Australian folk tale with rich illustrations and a fun sense of detail. This is an imaginative story about setting off into the unknown.
Let me get the negatives out first. As a story of the imagination that is trying to link into a factual world, I don't think it was necessary to have lizards of the Galapagos 'Fire Breathing'. That is a very small complaint. What I loved about the tail was it was possible to imagine these tiny people in their grand journey running into the problems they had, the adventures they had. The illustrations are wonderful. And I do like the linking of historical events into the tale. From Peru, to Pacific Islands and Finally Australia it is a trip of the imagination, but a trip you can imagine would be real if tiny people were leaving Peru in search of a new home. My daughter asks me to read it to her over and over again. Looks like I'm going to have to pick up some more of his books.
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