Book Synopsis:
Get ready for a life-changing adventure!
Bernie and Boatie face an epic journey across the stormy seas, which will test their friendship and their mettle to the max. Will they overcome their fear and make it to the island across the ocean? All aboard the #BoatofHope
This book follows the real-life journey of Bernie Hollywood, OBE as he undertakes his greatest endurance test yet for charity. As part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge Race, Bernie will be rowing solo for up to 90 days across the Atlantic Ocean in 2022. The story tells the tale of a young boy and his boat who face multiple ups and downs at sea. Together they discover there’s nothing to fear and a problem is halved when it’s shared with a friend.
Bernie And Boatie is published in ebook and paperback on the 12th October 2021. You can pre-order your copy or find out more about the Boat Of Hope charity by clicking on the link below.
My Review:
My little girl is a huge fan of this author’s books so you can imagine her excitement when she received a copy of Bernie And Boatie. It quickly got ripped open and I think I’d read it six times before she’d gone to bed – almost able to know the book off by heart.
Natalie really knows how to write books that capture children’s imagination and draw them into the story so they soon become firm favourites. My kids were soon sitting in cardboard boxes in our sitting room pretending to go on their own sea adventure.
I thought the story was well written, showing kids the dangers that Bernie may face at sea, managing to spark their interest without scaring them. The story is told in a gentle rhyme similar to Natalie’s other books and accompanied by some bright, beautiful full page illustrations that were just stunning to look at. My daughter and I spent ages looking at them and finding little details which we’d missed before. I particularly liked the inclusion of the famous Beatles statue and that the author herself was featured cheering Bernie on at the end. Each picture includes a rainbow which I absolutely loved as I have a thing about rainbows (as you can probably tell from my blog name). I thought this was a nice touch as they are known for being a symbol of hope – perfect colours for the boat of hope!
There is an important message hidden in the story to tell people that they aren’t alone and to encourage people to talk to other people if they have a problem. My initial thought was that this would go over my five year olds head but when I asked her she said the book was about helping people and being a friend to others so the message obviously gets through.
Overall we absolutely loved this book and I’m already thinking about giving it to friends children for Christmas, as well as a copy to my children’s school. Proceeds from this book and donations towards Bernie’s real life Atlantic challenge will go towards mental health charities aimed at helping children with their mental health.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Natalie for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Natalie Reeves Billing is a Liverpool lass with a dark sense of humour, which often spills onto the page. She loves to write spooky, fantastical stories for young audiences, and dabbles in poetry, contemporary fiction.Natalie spent most of her early career in the music industry as a performer and professional songwriter. This lead, almost inevitably, to storytelling.Natalie is an Arvon Foundation friend and is a student of the Golden Egg Academy. She is mentored under the Lloyds Bank SSE program, with her Bubs Literacy project. She is published in several anthologies with her poetry and flash fiction, including the Writing on the Wall, Read Now, Write Now, and is involved in several collaborations with fellow writers across poetry, song, and scriptwriting.Her new book, My Mummy is a Monster (part of the Monstrous Me collection) will be available in March 2020 and Carry Love in June 2020Connect with Natalie on Twitter @BillingReeves.
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