Blue Boat Home

Peter Mayer has been a singer and songwriter for over twenty years, performing in venues around the world. He has eleven albums to his credit and his work has been included in song books, church hymnals, and folk radio playlists across the country. He is the recipient of fellowships from both the McKnight and Bush foundations. He lives in Stillwater, Minnesota, with his wife and two daughters.Sue Todd is a Toronto-based professional illustrator who creates colorful art for books, magazines, products, posters, and public art. She is the illustrator of Mira and the Big Story and The Night Is Deep and Wide, among others. Blue Boat Home is illustrated in her new digital ink technique, a departure from her traditional hand-carved linocut style. In addition to illustration commissions, she is working on writing and illustrating graphic novels.

“Blue Boat Home is a beautifully rendered delineation of Peter Mayer’s deeply stirring heart-song and Sue Todd’s folk surrealist style is the perfect medium for this star-speckled journey of dreams.” —Frances Stickley, author of Love, the Earth“Peter Mayer and Sue Todd have taken a song I've always loved and made it a visual treat for all ages. Our world is a blue boat when seen from space, but it has even more to offer when you come down to Earth. The book's brilliant palette captures the rainbow that extends across a multitude of places and happy faces, all reflecting the only home we and our ancestors have ever known. When we have spread across the solar system and beyond, I hope our descendants will remember and cherish this cradle of humanity in exactly the way Mayer and Todd have shown it to us.” —Mat Kaplan, Senior Communications Adviser and former Host of Planetary Radio, The Planetary Society“Blue Boat Home feels like a warm blanket, a soothing lullaby, a community hug. Peter Mayer’s evocative lyrics about the world we call our home come to life with Sue Todd’s stunning illustrations. A perfect read-aloud book, Blue Boat Home will find its way into the hearts of children and adults alike.” —Deepa Iyer, author of We Are The Builders!  and Social Change Now“Blue Boat Home is a book with a magical power. You can experience this for yourself. As you immerse yourself into the book's poetry and dwell in its images, the moment will come when invisible chains are lifted. You will feel yourself floating and free. With your family and friends, you will find yourself on the ultimate voyage, the one that takes us into the infinite beauty of our universe.” " —Brian Thomas Swimme, professor of cosmology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and author of Cosmogenesis: An Unveiling of the Expanding Universe“The lyrical and visual beauty of Peter Mayer and Sue Todd’s Blue Boat Home comes with the added joy of being able to sing the book together. Blue Boat Home gives children and adults a glimpse of the vastness of our universe and our soul’s call to protect our place in it.” —Sam Daley-Harris, founder of RESULTS and Civic Courage and author of Reclaiming Our Democracy“Do you want to awaken a poetic spirit in a child you love—or reawaken it in yourself? Illustrated by Sue Todd and based on a song by Peter Mayer, Blue Boat Home feels like it's more than a book: it's a gentle, profound spiritual experience to be shared across generations.” —Brian McLaren, author of Cory and the Seventh Story“Journey the universe with the lyrics of Peter Mayer and the vibrant art of Sue Todd, and you will sing your thanks for the earth.  A beautiful celebration of the many gifts we are called to honor and protect.” —Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, author of I Am Not Afraid and Miriam’s Dancing Shoes“Part lullaby, part adventure story, part hymn of gratitude, Blue Boat Home calls us to imagine what we know is true: we are all shipmates on this precious planet, sailing together through the cosmos. Peter Mayer’s flowing lyrics and Sue Todd’s vivid and varied illustrations bring a sense of exhilaration and wonder to the voyage. There is a hint of peril too—a subtle reminder of how much we all depend upon this blue boat, our only home in a vast universe.” —Laura Alary, author of Wind, Stop Blowing!, Mira and the Big Story, and All the Faces of Me“How wonderful that children will now be blessed with a joyously illustrated version of Peter Mayer’s wonderful song. The synergy between the words and the images works beautifully. I can’t wait to give it to my grandkids!” —Ursula Goodenough, author of The Sacred Depths of Nature and Professor Emerita of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis“Beautiful vivid illustrations bring to life the words (lyrics) of the much-loved song. We are invited to join with an adult and child as they experience a day together—and to know that all of us are interconnected as we travel on our Blue Boat Home. This special book delights the eyes and will, no doubt, be a sing along favorite as well.” —Rev. Dr. Natalie Fenimore, Lead Minister and Minister of Lifespan Religious Education at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock and former President of the Liberal Religious Educators Association“Blue Boat Home by Peter Mayer, illustrated by Sue Todd, is a visual and lyrical masterpiece that invites readers on a journey through the beauty of nature and the interconnectedness of life. Mayer’s poem is deeply thoughtful, with rich layers of meaning that evoke a sense of wonder and reflection. Each line carries a gentle depth, speaking to themes of belonging, gratitude, and the awe of the world we inhabit. —Farida Zaman, author and illustrator of Aliya’s Secret—A Story of Ramadan, Meena Can’t Wait, and I Want To Be . . . A Gutsy Girls’ ABC "These words that so perfectly capture the awe and wonder and connection of sharing this living planet together come to life in a whole new way through the vivid illustrations in this stunning book." —Matt Meyer, author of Desmond Gets Free“Peter Mayer is one of the finest songwriters on planet Earth, his imagination leaping effortlessly from the intimate to the infinite, always catching us unawares. Long a favorite of our congregations, Peter's classic ‘Blue Boat Home’ is now delightfully reimagined as a picture book with captivating illustrations by Sue Todd. Experiencing it, children and their elders will joyfully set sail together into the wide, wondrous universe!” —Rev. Fred Small, Minister for Climate Justice at Arlington Street Church and composer and author of Everything Possible