When a young child finds her great-great grandfather Wilhelm’s journal detailing his voyage across the Atlantic as an emigrant sailing from Bremerhaven, Germany to America in 1872, she is transported back in time.

The journal entries capture young Wilhelm’s hopes of escaping poverty, the adventure and poignancy of leaving behind all that is familiar, the wonders of life on the open sea, the work of the sailors, the daily struggles of sleeping in steerage, sea sickness, insect infestations, and boredom, but also the children’s games and sense of community on board. And finally, the big day comes as the Columbia reaches the port of New York!

Sidebar facts throughout offer insights about navigational tools, seamen’s knots, sea creatures, and more in this historical picture book about the great age of emigration and life aboard a sailing ship.