Visual cues, such as the animals' wild expressions as the boat tips or their peaceful, almost casual expresions that are manifest in the calm periods bring this contrast to life. As the first four animals enter one sees a pattern develop, where one animal boards the boat, sending it into tips-turvy chaos, and the next boards quickly in order to bring balance to the almost capsising vessel. The visual and verbal contrasts that are presented also help the book be more entertaining. The author's use of color prevents the readers from the possible onset of boredom that may come from knowing the book's end from the beginning. This prepares the reader to enjoy more fully enjoy mouse's grand leap into the boat, and the subsequent shipwreck. As sheep gets on, one does see mouse against the green background, but is distracted by the heavy focus of color on the opposite side of the page. Being white, he is lost in the white background as cow, donkey, and pig enter the boat. These colors actually serve to distract the reader from the important role that the mouse plays.
His color is red, made manifest in the roof of his house as well as in the boat. Peffer has a color, whose appearence is excluded from the book except for the brief mention of him on the second page. Each of the animals has their own specific color: yellow for the cow, brown for the donkey, pink for the pig, black for the sheep, and white for the mouse. I very much appreciated how color was used to promote the theme of the book. Full of fun illustrations, this book is a wonderful introduction (or reinforcement) for children to the concept of irony, and may also be used to promoted discussion or even debate about who actually sank the boat. Obviously, as the mouse mounts, the ship sinks.
The enjoyment of reading mainly comes from seeing the story unfold as first the cow, then the horse and the rest of the animals precariously perch on the small craft. However, as the title indicates, something goes wrong, and the boat sinks. "Who Sank thee Boat?" by Pamela Allen is a creative children's book that relates the tale of a cow, a horse, a pig, a sheep, and a mouse and their simple journey of getting into a rowboat.
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