The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower, or John Howland’s Good Fortune

In the first book he has both written and illustrated, master artist P.J. Lynch brings a Mayflower voyager’s story to vivid life.

Illustrator P.J. Lynch brings a young, honest perspective to a pivotal moment in American history in this powerful and vividly illustrated story of the Pilgrims. At a young age, John Howland learned what it meant to take advantage of an opportunity. Leaving the docks of London on the Mayflower as a servant to Pilgrim John Carver, John little knew that he was embarking on the adventure of a lifetime. By his good fortune, John survived falling overboard on the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, and he earned his keep ashore by helping to scout a safe harbour and landing site for his bedraggled and ill shipmates. Would his luck continue to hold amid the dangers and adversity of the Pilgrims’ lives in New England? In the first book he has both written and illustrated, P.J. Lynch tells a personal story of American’s colonization with precise and exquisite detail, from the light on the froth of a breaking wave to the immediate, questioning voice of a young man in a new world.

Set in the 1600s and written in the first person, Lynch’s latest offering weaves a compelling adventure story about emigration and colonisation […] Stunningly evocative illustrations by the author capture the mood of the story perfectly. Inis Reading Guide
A wide format showcases exquisite, detailed pictures – both dramatic seascapes and sublime portrayals – in watercolour and gouache. A wonderful visual and literary experience! Carousel
The Atlantic has never looked as dark and swirling as in PJ’s magnificent illustrations. -- Sarah Webb Sunday Independent Dublin
Text and illustrations work in complete harmony, a combination perhaps best represented by the exquisite image of John reaching up to his ship beneath the waves […] A wonderful read. Inis Magazine
Certainly a beautiful book for reading both as an illustrated novel and a source of information about the early years of life in North America The School Librarian

P.J. Lynch has won many awards including the Mother Goose Award, the Christopher Medal three times, the Irish Bisto Book of the Year Award, and the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal on two occasions – first for The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski, and again for When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest. In recent years, P.J. Lynch has been commissioned to design posters for Opera Ireland and the Abbey Theatre, as well as designing stamps for An Post. He lives in Dublin with his wife and their three children.

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