Where Go the Boats?1 / 3

Part One · Robert Louis Stevenson

Dark brown is the river, Golden is the sand. It flows along for ever, With trees on either hand. Green leaves a-floating, Castles of the foam, Boats of mine a-boating-- Where will all come home?

About Where Go the Boats?

A free Grade 2 story from the Peabody library, Level 7. It has 3 short pages and about 88 words, so it reads in a few minutes.

Words this story teaches

At reading level 7, Peabody's practice works on phonics (sounding words out), sight words, spelling; the level page says what is in each.

The short version

Where Go the Boats? is a short poem about a river and the little boats a child sets floating on it. It was written by Robert Louis Stevenson and printed in A Child's Garden of Verses in 1885.

Quick facts

Who wrote Where Go the Boats?

Where Go the Boats? was written by Robert Louis Stevenson. It was printed in his book A Child's Garden of Verses in 1885.

To print it or save it as a PDF, tap the ⓘ button above the story, then “Print this story”.

More stories at Level 7

All the Level 7 stories, or the whole library.

For teachers: read it to the class, questions and key
Questions and answer key (5)
  1. What color is the river?
    • A. Bright blue
    • B. Silver
    • C. Dark brown
    Show answerC. Dark brown
  2. What does the child hope will happen to the boats?
    • A. They will sink
    • B. Other children will bring them ashore
    • C. They will come back by morning
    Show answerB. Other children will bring them ashore
  3. In this poem, what does "ashore" mean?
    • A. Onto the land
    • B. Under the water
    • C. Far out at sea
    Show answerA. Onto the land
  4. Which words start two lines in a row in the third verse?
    • A. Away down
    • B. Dark brown
    • C. Golden is
    Show answerA. Away down
  5. Which word rhymes with "hill"?
    • A. boats
    • B. sand
    • C. mill
    Show answerC. mill

For grown-ups: Peabody has no ads, not one, and nothing to sell your child. The Kids Pick, an independent kids' directory, rates its games 90/100. See what other free kids' sites load · Grown-ups, sign in · Already have a profile?