Overwhelmed by the beauty and mystery of everything, he rolled over and over and right off the deck of his boat and into the sea. Amos & Boris is a 1971 New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year, Notable Children's Book of the Year, and Outstanding Book of the Year. One night, in a phosphorescent sea, he marveled at the sight of some whales spouting luminous water and later, lying on the deck of his boat, gazing at the immense, starry sky, the tiny mouse Amos, a little speck of a living thing in the vase universe, felt thoroughly akin to it all. Here, with apparent ease and concealed virtuosity, Caldecott medalist William Steig brings two winning heroes to life. Day and night he moved up and down, up and down, on waves as big as mountains, and he was full of wonder, full of enterprise, and full of love for life. And Amos, after one miserable day of seasickness, proved to be a natural sailor, very well suited to ship. The Rodent, for that was the boat's name, proved to be very well made and very well suited to the sea. On the sixth of September, with a very calm sea, he waited till the high tide had almost reached his boat then, using his most savage strength, he just managed to push the boat into the water, climb on board, and set sail. When the boat was finished, he loaded it with cheese, biscuits, acorns, honey, wheat germ, two barrels of fresh water, a compass, a telescope, a saw, a hammer and nails and some wood in case repairs should be necessary, a needle and thread for the mending of torn sails, and various other necessities such as bandages, a yo-yo, and playing cards.

He worked on it in the daytime, while at night he studied navigation. One day he started building a boat on the beach. He thought a lot about the ocean, and he wondered about the faraway places on the other side of the water. He loved to hear the surf sounds- the bursting breakers, the back washes with rolling pebbles.

Amos and boris by william steig pdf