The tale of how he acquires this particular boat, then sails along the coast for the summer and finally brings it up the St-Lawrence Seaway all the way to Montreal, will please any lover of maritime fare. Among his many books, Mowat wrote a number of autobiographical ones, some of which are lighter in tone. "The Boat Who Wouldn't Float" is delightfully easy to read and, along with "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be"(the story of Mowat's childhood), gives interesting insights into the life of one of Canada's foremost writers.


Wonderful discovery   May 24, 2000
Mowat's style is easy to read but challenging enough in that I found myself using the dictionary often. It's a down-to-earth adventure that does not seek to overdramatise the experience. His humor is infectious and my wife and I found ourselves laughing outloud at his descriptions. He is as optimistic as his characters whom he credits for having saved Newfoundland from the seagulls and seals. It's a story of people helping people with a wooden boat as main character. I would recommend it to any 5th grader to 90 year old.


Hilarious!   February 5, 2000
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I read this book many years ago and just bought it for my son as a gift. As a previous owner of a leaky, wooden boat, I found this book to be almost non-fiction. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it - especially to wooden boat owners.


Good sense of humour, but....   November 4, 1999
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

The time table for this book was organized a little hurriedly. The first half of the novel takes place over one summer, and then suddenly years fly by and there is too much crammed into the last few chapters. It seems almost as though Mowat got bored of the story and decided that he'd better finish it. However, that was the only thing about this book that I didn't like. Mowat has a delightfully sarcastic sense of humour and I enjoyed his optimistic adventures thoroughly. Even the boat has a personality all her own, and his creativity was refreshing.