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It makes me happy that this book exists, and the marginal illustrations, the author's tribute to the glory of the Book of Kells, make me even happier. When you dig a little deeper, unfortunately the story is a little bit silly. The Three Brothers theme is okay. The Good Deed Rewarded theme is okay. A bit more meticulous detail about the meticulous detail that created the Book of Kells would have been nice; I'm sure the author would be up to describing the preparation of parchment, the creation of ink and colour, and the process of transcribing the text and decorating the page. But the inanity of the monks' supposed motivation is beyond belief: "According to an ancient law," explains the scribe, "once the Book is completed, no one, not an Irish king nor a Viking lord, can attack us again." Other than the law of gravity and its like, there was no law to which the Vikings subscribed that was not part of their own oral tradition, and certainly no Christian law would deter them from the prospect of loot. Christian kings weren't that much better, although moral suasion could be exerted on them; but the existence of a particular book of Gospels would never be the deciding factor. Think of Henry VIII despoiling the monasteries some hundreds of years later: the king WAS the law. This ridiculous idea was enough to make me unable to enjoy the book as much as it probably deserves. And the brothers never get together again in the story, which is a pity. ( )

A work of historical fiction for the picture-book set, The Sailor Who Captured the Sea is an original tale by Lattimore, and follows the adventures of three Irish brothers, starting in the year 804 A.D. Fursa, Niall and Broghan are each very different men, with different talents, and each has a contribution to make to the creation of the extraordinary Book of Kells, today considered one of the most beautiful illuminated manuscripts in the world...

I had the great pleasure, while in Dublin some years ago, of seeing the Book of Kells (or, at least, the single page of the book that was displayed at the time I visited Trinity College), and was consequently quite excited to discover that there was a children's picture book devoted to its creation. Unfortunately, I was somewhat underwhelmed by this offering, which suffered from a crude illustrative style, and an overly action-oriented narrative. Perhaps I was hoping for just a little more detail about the actual methods of creation, rather than the standard "worthy deed repaid later on" sub-plot. However that may be, The Sailor Who Captured the Sea remains one of the only children's books devoted to this topic, and would probably make an entertaining bedtime story - three-brother type tales usually do. On a brighter note, Lattimore's border-work, clearly inspired by the great book itself, is exquisite. ( )

The story of three brothers that make it their life's work to complete the Book of Kells. Each brother has a different reason for joining and continuing the mission to finish the book.
Beautiful illustrations.