Working Boats: Salmon Troller

Born in the midwest, artist Tom Crestodina has been working as a fisherman in Alaska for more than 20 years and studied marine engineering at the Seattle Maritime Academy. After the birth of his first child with his wife, Ania, he began making cutaway drawings of the vessels he was working on as a way to communicate with his small child while he was at sea. After other seafarers began to ask for drawings of their own vessels, he went on to document the maritime trades in his whimsical style, and his work is now carried in shops and and galleries all over the Pacific coast of North America. He lives in Bellingham, Washington, with Ania and their two children. Discover his art on his website TheScow.BigCartel.com.

"All aboard the Plucky in this eye-opening die-cut board book for nascent engineers and tech-curious children. People prepare the old boat for the sea, refreshing its paint and tinkering with its engine before heading out in search of a catch. Cross-sectioned, x-ray vision peeks into what’s going on inside the boat’s various rooms pair well with the lovely images of the seascapes it travels; the aurora borealis dance overhead as the freezer is steadily stacked with fish. The illustrations have a pleasing vintage quality, with bold lines and a varied, muted color palette."—Foreword Reviews"In these boat-shaped pages, viewers can explore the detailed cross-section views of a troller in the boatyard, at work on the water, at anchor, and at port." —Horn Book MagazinePRAISE FOR WORKING BOATS"Boys and girls — and grown-ups — intrigued by the maritime world of the North Pacific will get much pleasure and a pack of insider knowledge from Tom Crestodina’s Working Boats"—New York Times“Working Boats is a great resource for kids, and as I mentioned earlier, their parents as well. The drawings will attract beginning readers, the text will keep bringing them back as they master their skills, and the complete package will appeal to grownups."—Anchorage Daily News"If a photo illustration is worth a thousand words, Crestodina’s cut-away drawings give us more like five thousand words each. . . It is no cliché to say that, for the mariner inclined, from eight to eighty, this is the one book that does it all.—National Fisherman"Cross sections and exploded views abound in the detailed illustrations."—Kirkus Reviews"An informative and fun book for readers interested in boats and how they work, and the target audience will be engaged by the high level of detail."—Booklist"If your young reader is less interested in story and more interested in non-fiction — especially the workings of a seagoing vessel — then this book is a great gift choice."—Montreal Gazette