Three years. One sailboat. Endless adventure.
Twelve-year-old Boreas never wanted to leave home—but now he’s crossing oceans, racing storms, meeting friends from every corner of the world, and facing flying fish, being a (not so) accidental stowaway, and even real pirates! From tropical islands to the wild oceans, this heart-pounding journey proves that the greatest adventures aren’t just about the seas and the urge to protect them—they’re about courage, friendship, and discovering how big the world—and your own bravery—can be.
Boreas and the Seven Seas – Meet twelve-year-old Boreas, who is about to have the summer—and the life—he never asked for. Just as he’s gearing up for soccer matches, friends, and the start of junior high, his parents drop a bombshell: they’re sailing around the world. For three whole years.
Boreas is not impressed.
Soon he’s waving goodbye to dry land and stepping aboard the Argo, an old First 42 sailboat with big dreams and creaky bones. At first, life at sea feels endless and dull. Just water, wind, and way too much time. But the ocean has other plans. Before Boreas knows it, the journey sweeps him into a whirlwind of unforgettable moments: a heart-stopping collision with a young refugee’s raft, a wild tractor race on the rugged island of Sark, and a terrifying encounter as a stowaway aboard a Spanish fishing trawler. With every new horizon, the world reveals itself as bigger, stranger, and more breathtaking than Boreas ever imagined. What begins as the worst idea ever slowly turns into the adventure of a lifetime—one that tests his courage, reshapes his friendships, and shows him that the greatest discoveries aren’t just found on maps, but within yourself.
Set sail on a story bursting with excitement, danger, and joy, and join Boreas on an epic voyage across the seven seas.
Buy Boreas en de zeven zeeën (Dutch edition)
Boreas and the Thousand Islands – Boreas’s Atlantic crossing is anything but quiet. There are windless days drifting through the doldrums, nights howling with fierce storms, and adventures no one could have planned for. Boreas learns to fish like a true sailor, survives being accidentally locked inside a locker while wrestling with a sail, and wakes up to total mayhem when a swarm of flying fish rains down on the deck overnight.
But when days blur into weeks and the horizon never changes, even adventure can feel lonely. With only his parents and the vast ocean for company, Boreas begins to feel the weight of isolation—and wonders how much longer he can handle life at sea.
Then fate steps in.
After a brutal storm, Boreas and his family come to the rescue of Gale, a bold American girl sailing solo around the world. Helping her repair her damaged boat opens Boreas’s eyes to a thrilling possibility: maybe one day, he could do something just as daring himself.
The journey ends in the Caribbean, where the ocean sparkles with promise: New Year’s Eve on a deserted island, secret plans to save a batch of lobsters from the cooking pot, and the feeling that the world is suddenly wide open again.
A story filled with courage, connection, and the magic of the open sea—Boreas and the Thousand Islands invites you to sail straight into adventure.
Buy Boreas en de duizend eilanden (Dutch edition)
Boreas and the Four Winds – After crossing seven seas and weaving past a thousand islands, Boreas finally reaches the United States, ready to dive into this enormous, exciting new world. Skyscrapers, endless roads, and big dreams await—until Boreas comes face to face with something far more intimidating than he expected: powerful predators roaming free in the wild. Suddenly, this new continent feels thrilling… and a little terrifying.
The adventure doesn’t stop there. From the U.S., Boreas and his family sail on to Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Colombia, before tackling the legendary Panama Canal and slipping from the Atlantic into the vast Pacific Ocean. The Galápagos Islands feel like a world out of time, but the next goal is even bigger: Hawaii.
That is, if the ocean allows it.
Because the Pacific has surprises of its own. A typhoon appears where none should be, the compass is suddenly gone, and climate change turns the rules of navigation upside down. With nothing but instinct, courage, and teamwork to guide them, Boreas must learn what it truly means to find your way—when every familiar direction disappears.
Buy Boreas en de vier windstreken (Dutch edition)
Boreas and the Fifteen Friends – Boreas and his parents have been circling the globe for 600 days—and what a journey it’s been! Flipping through his logbook, Boreas smiles at the names scattered across the pages: Aziz in Morocco, Ed in New York, Amélie in Saint Martin… Friends made in every corner of the world, and more waiting to be discovered.
Some of the newest come along for the ride, like Kirsten, who sails with them from Hawaii to Tahiti and teaches Boreas the secrets of Polynesian navigation. Meanwhile, the family is tackling serious challenges too, like finding a way to deal with the ocean’s plastic soup.
From Tahiti, the adventure surges on: New Zealand, Australia, Bali—each stop bringing new wonders, new lessons, and new friends. Just when it seems the trip might finally be coming to an end, the Argo charts a course back to the Netherlands… only to stumble upon a new twist.
Pirates. Real pirates.
The ocean still has surprises up its sleeve, and Boreas realizes that even the last leg of a journey can be the most thrilling. Friendship, courage, and adventure await right up to the very last wave.
Buy Boreas en de vijftien vrienden (Dutch edition)
REVIEWS
Boreas en de zeven zeeën / Boreas and the Seven Seas
“Boreas’s story is informative and thrilling and makes you forget at which beach you are. You experience the waves and the wind as if you are there, and you feel Boreas’ doubts after he starts seeing the fun part of traveling. Action, drama, bantering and mortal fear. It’s all in there. And breathlessness, but that’s mainly with the reader. Because you want to read this book in one go.
It doesn’t matter whether or not you like sailing or traveling, if you’re a boy or a girl, a man or a woman. No one will regret choosing this book.” — Nelly Hofman, Boekenbijlage
“Great about this book is the adventurous voice. The lapping of waves, the nightly tingling of boats in a port, the panic at sea when the wind hurls the boat to a broach. It’s like you are there and feel the wind pull your hair.” — 4 stars, Annemarie Terhell, Kidsweek
“This is a true travel book; you feel like you’re sailing along as you read it. You learn a lot about sailing and life on board a ship. So if you’re not going away this summer, this is your chance! — Leesplein (Dutch Library Association)
“It’s a good choice to break the journey into multiple books and this first one definitely asks for more. The sailing trip is described so well that you can almost taste the salt of the sea on your lips. The story brims from adventure, both at sea and on the shore. The family rescues a drowning boy in the English Channel, someone falls overboard, Boreas enters a thrilling tractor race and he and Merel accidentally become stowaways aboard a Spanish fishing trawler and end up at the ocean. In addition, Boreas offers with his logbook story lots of information about sailing without compromising the story’s pace.” — Leesbevordering in de klas (Reading Promotion in the Classroom)
Longlisted Kinderjury Award 2015
Boreas en de duizend eilanden / Boreas and the Thousand Islands
“Just like in the first book, the author knows how to bring the journey around the world realistically: not just the romantic dream is narrated, but also the loneliness, the dangers and the unpredictability:
“It is wonderful to be free, but at the same time it’s not, because sometimes I really like it if I know in advance what’s going to happen, like the past two months on La Gomera (…) I like knowing that I will go to school the next day and see my friends, that I can play soccer after school or can go to the beach to swim.” (page 20)
Despite that, this is first and foremost a book for daydreaming. A wonderful series that will spark every reader’s love for traveling!” — Leesbevordering in de klas (Reading Promotion in the Classroom)
“Looking through the eyes of Boreas, it is as if the reader joins him aboard: flying fish, the heat, sailing with strong winds or without wind, night watch, the amounts of repair work, and the monotony … A delightful book for adventurous children ten years and up.” — NBD Biblion (Dutch Library Services/Biblion)
“An adventurous story full of lapping waves, nightly jingling of masts, and panic during fierce winds.” — Recommended reading by the Dutch Reading Foundation, in Lezen (Reading Magazine)
Boreas en de vier windstreken / Boreas and the Four Winds
Sprinkled in between his [Boreas’s] blood-curdling adventures are sailing tips, logbook snippets and photos. Action-packed and sneakily informative – a delight for adventurous kids.” — Recommended reading, Kidsproof.nl
“Of course, it is always exciting with a series whether or not the author pulls it off to keep the story interesting. But from the first sentence on – at day 345 of the journey – you sail again with Boreas across oceans and you are pulled into his rip-roaring adventures.” — Leesbevordering in de klas (Reading Promotion in the Classroom)
Boreas en de vijftien vrienden / Boreas and the Fifteen Friends
“Just like Laura Dekker (who is mentioned in the book), he sails the ocean by himself in the final part of book. That‘s an adventure if there ever was one. How cool is it to read about a fourteen-year-old boy who travels by himself?! That is a role model that speaks to the imagination of young readers! It is a beautiful ending of this series. It leaves you behind with a head full of dreams about the journeys that, hopefully, await you, the reader!” — Leesbevordering in de klas (Reading Promotion in the Classroom)
Longlisted Kinderjury Award 2018
Book Details
Boreas en de zeven zeeën / Boreas and the Seven Seas
Ploegsma Children’s Books
Hardcover ISBN 978-90-216-7438-4
Paperback ISBN 978-90-216-8733-9
Noordhoff Educational Publishers
School edition Vroege Lijsters
Paperback ISBN 978-90-010-2116-0
Boreas en de duizend eilanden / Boreas and the Thousand Islands
Ploegsma Children’s Books
Hardcover ISBN 978-90-216-7568-8
Paperback ISBN 978-90-216-8199-3
Boreas en de vier windstreken / Boreas and the Four Winds
Ploegsma Children’s Books
Hardcover ISBN 978-90-216-7720-0
Paperback ISBN 978-90-216-8363-8
Boreas en de vijftien vrienden / Boreas and the Fifteen Friends
Ploegsma Children’s Books
Hardcover ISBN 978-90-216-7876-4 (2018)
Paperback, ISBN 978-90-216-8209-9 (2021)
Mina Witteman 